Audrey Addi-Raccah
Noa Tamir
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Paola Dusi
Verona University, Italy
What can we learn about research on parental involvement? A review of leading academic
Journals
Keywords: Parent involvement; parent-school relations; literature review;
Aims: Neoliberal policies demand that parents be more involved in their children’s academic
and personal development, particularly their school education. This has brought increased
social and political interest in parental involvement (PI) as a factor in attainment levels among
both children and schools (e.g., Boonk et al., 2018; Gillis, 2012; Hamlin, & Flessa, 2018). This
study seeks to map out and characterize the current state of research on PI in the form of a
literature review.
Methodology and Findings: The sample was drawn from leading (Q1) journals published
2014-2018 by searching for the following keywords in the Web of Science platform: parent
participation, PI, parental engagement, parental empowerment, parent-teacher cooperation,
parent-teacher relationships, parental entrepreneurship, parent involvement, parent-school
partnership, parents-school collaboration.
We found 75 articles, of which 65 were relevant, and analyzed them in three stages:
First, each article was coded using a range of parameters (e.g., main theme, target population,
age/school level, socioeconomic background, methodology).
Second, based on the coding, descriptive analyses (not presented) and a cluster analysis were
conducted. Four distinct clusters emerged:
The first (n=5) is concerned with inequality, primarily inequality deriving from education
policies, some of which are implemented in a way that targets “different” or “non-normal”
groups (e.g. immigrants, specific ethnic groups).
The second (n=26) relates to academic and non-academic impacts (on the child, especially) of
PI, mainly in the form of initiatives to cultivate parental input in the home setting.
The third (n=27) focuses on the school-parent relationship, particularly educator practices (e.g.,
teachers, principal).
The fourth cluster (n=6) relates to policies designed to involve parents (particularly of
lower and higher socioeconomic status) in community-level activities.
Third, we conducted an in-depth content analysis of each article group. The findings from this
stage are preliminary and will be analyzed further for presentation at the conference.
Conclusion: Our findings will illustrate the current direction of research and help steer future
studies by highlighting gaps in the literature and areas requiring further exploration.
References:
1. Boonk, L., Gijselaers, H. J., Ritzen, H., & Brand-Gruwel, S. (2018). A review of the
relationship
between
parental
involvement
indicators
and
academic
achievement. Educational Research Review, 24, 10-30.
2. Gillies, V. (2012). Family policy and the politics of parenting: From function to
competence. In The Politicization of Parenthood (pp. 13-26). Springer Netherlands.
3. Hamlin,
D.,
&
Flessa,
J.
(2018).
Parental
involvement
initiatives:
An
analysis. Educational Policy, 32(5), 697-727.
Audrey Addi-Raccah
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Yael Grinshtain
Tel-Hay Collage and Israeli Open University, Israel
Teachers’ professionalism and relations with parents:Teachers' andparents' views
Keywords: Teachers’ professionalism; parents; parent-teacher relations.
Objectives: The comprehensive neo-liberal policieslegitimized parents to take an extended and
activerolein their children's education, including in schools (Posey-Maddox, 2014). These
changes shaped the relationships between parents and teachers. Researchers showed that
parent-teacher relationships are dual, involving collaborations alongside conflicts (AddiRaccah & Grinshtain, 2018).This duality is related to parents' perceptions of the educational
services their children receive inschools(Hornby & Blackwell, 2018),while in teachers’ eyes,
parental involvement in schools is frequently perceived as an intervention in their
teachingprofession (Addi-Raccah &Elyashiv-Arviv, 2008). However, teachers who are
confident in their professional work are less concerned about parental involvement and may
perceive parents as part of theirprofession (Rosenblatt and Addi-Raccah, 2018). This study
examines:(1) Howteachers’ professionalism is perceived by both parents and teachers? (2)
What are the relations betweenteachers’ professionalism andparent-teacher relations?
Method: The research included 325 teachers and 655parents from19elementary schools,
randomly sampled fromthe northern and central regions of Israel. The participantsfilled a
questionnaire
that
included
background
variables;
three
measures
of
teachers’
professionalism:estimation of teachers’ work (Cronbach α =.69), influence over
pedagogicalissues(Cronbach =.80) and responsibility (Cronbach α=.70); and two measures of
parent-teacher relations:collaboration (Cronbach α=.79) and conflict (Cronbach α=.82).
Findings: Teachers significantlyperceivedparent-teacherrelationships as more collaborative and
more conflictual than parents(M=3.53 and M=2.37versus M=3.74 and M=2.49, respectively).
Further, parents compared to teachers,perceived teachers to have lower influence inschools
(M=.75 and M=.85, respectively). No significant differences were found regarding teachers’
workestimation and responsibility. Multiple regression analysesrevealed that parents and
teachers who reported a high level of estimation of teachers' work and teachers’ influence over
pedagogy, perceived parent-teacher relationsas more collaborative and less conflictual .
Teachers' responsibility was only perceived by teachers (and not by parents) as an increase
incollaboration.
Conclusion: Apparently,collaborative relationships with parents are based on teachers’
professionalism.The findings indicate the need to supportteachers’ professionalism and
integratethe relationships with parents as part of the profession (Epstein, 2018). In Israel, this
has not yet been accomplished.
Reference:
1. Addi-Raccah, A.,& Arviv-Elyashiv, R. (2008). Parent empowerment and teacher
professionalism: Teachers’ perspective, Urban Education43(3), 394-415.
2. Addi-Raccah, A., & Grinshtain, Y. (2018). Teachers’ capital in view of intensive
parental involvement in school: the case of teachers in high socio-economic status
schools in Israel.Research Papers in Education,33(5), 599-619.
3. Epstein, J. L. (2018). School, family, and community partnerships in teachers’
professional work.Journal of Education for Teaching, 44(3), 397-406.
4. Hornby, G., & Blackwell, I. (2018). Barriers to parental involvement in education: an
update. Educational Review, 70(1), 109-119.
5. Posey-Maddox, L. (2014). When middle-class parents choose urban schools: Class,
race, and the challenge of equity in public education. University of Chicago Press.
Beata Adrjan
Faculty of Social Science
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland
Parent’s places (non – places?) at school – ethnographic analysis of parents’ evenings
Keywords: places - non places, parents’ places at school, parents’ evening, school culture,
Parents’ evenings in a Polish school have a specific atmosphere. Collective meetings are the
dominant form; the teacher discusses organizational and didactic issues with all parents. After
this, the parents usually waiting for individual conversations. This meetings also have a kind of
atmosphere; in a queue for a few minutes' meeting, the parents are waiting for an individual
conversation. Ethnographic analysis of meetings with parents at school will allow us to search
for answers to the question of the place (not-place) of parents in the school. As a theoretical
framework I will use the concept of M. Augé (2010), which from an anthropological perspective
describes two categories: place and non-place. Places in the author's concept are relational
spaces, saturated with meanings, characterized by a specific time and spatial perspective. Nonplaces are foreign spaces, no-man's-eye spaces, non-identical, non-historical without relations,
with a fuzzy perspective of time and place. In the ethnographic analysis I will try to interpret
the places/non-place of parents in the school.
References:
1. Augé M., (2010), Nie-miejsca. Wprowadzenie do antropologii hipernowoczesności,
Wydawnictwo naukowe PWN, Warszawa
M. Akkermans-Rutgers
Hanze University of Applied Sciences and the University of Groningen
R. Bosker
Groningen Institute for Educational Research (GION)
University of Groningen, Netherlands
A. Kassenberg
J. Doornenbal
Integrated Youth Policy at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
S. Doolaard
Groningen Institute for Educational Research (GION), Netherlands
Children, Parents, and Literacy Assignments. A Multifaceted Trinity of Interaction
Keywords: parental involvement, literacy assignments, third Grade
M. Akkermans-Rutgers will be presenting.
With this study, we focus on the trinity of parents, home-based literacy assignments, and,
especially, children. Children are after all the pivotal actors in this triangle, but their voices are
sparsely heard other than through reading test results.
On five Dutch elementary schools, seven classes worked with the parental involvement
module of Success for All-the Netherlands from the first to the third Grade. The children and
their parents were provided with at-home reading assignments and information on parental
home-based literacy involvement. This study is designed around two leading questions: (1) Do
the at-home reading assignments of Success for All-the Netherlands fit the needs of children
and parents with varying attitudes and skillsets?, and (2) How do children and parents evaluate
the at-home reading assignments of Success for All-the Netherlands?
We have conducted in-depth interviews with 26 third-Grade children and their parents
(separately) and clustered the dyads with similar scores on four factors that research
demonstrated to possibly influence the interaction between children, parents, and at-home
reading assignments: basic literacy attitude parent, parental skills, parental expectations and
aspirations, and perceived literacy skills (Boonk, Gijselaers, Ritzen & Brand-Gruwel, 2018;
Harkness, Super, Bermúdez, Moscardino, Rha, Mavridis et al., 2010; Jones & Prinz, 2005;
Silinskas, Lerkkanen, Tolvanen, Niemi, Poikkeus & Nurmi, 2012; Van Steensel, 2006). Based
on our own analysis, we added a fifth possible influencer: basic literacy attitude child.
Three profiles arose, forming an interpretational framework: motivated readers,
incompatible readers, and generational non-readers. We can conclude that the SfA-assignments
were evaluated the highest by and fit the needs of the generational non-readers best. The
assignments supported these dyads breaking out of a negative literacy spiral that has been
passed on for generations. The incompatible readers had the hardest time working with the
assignments, due to the difference in basic literacy attitude between the child and the parent,
but the assignments did fit their needs. The motivational readers appreciated the assignments,
but they fit these dyads’ needs the least due to a lack of challenge.
References
1. Boonk, L., Gijselaers, H. J. M., Ritzen, H., Brand-Gruwel, S. (2018). A review of the
relationship between parental involvement indicators and academic achievement.
Educational Research Review, 24, 10-30. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2018.02.001
2. Harkness, S., Super, C. M., Bermúdez, M. R., Moscardino, U., Rha, J., Mavridis, C. J.,
… Zylicz, P. O. (2010). Parental ethnotheories of children’s learning. In J. Bock, S.
Gaskins & D. F. (Lancy (Eds.), (pp. 65-81). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
3. Jones, T. L., & Prinz, R. J. (2005). Potential roles of parental self-efficacy in parent and
child
adjustment:
A
review.
Clinical
Psychology
Review,
25,
341-363.
doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2004.12.004\
4. Silinskas, G., Lerkkanen, M., Tolvanen, A., Niemi, P., Poikkeus, A., & Nurmi, J.
(2012). The frequency of parents’ reading-related activities at home and children's
reading skills during kindergarten and Grade 1. Journal of Applied Developmental
Psychology, 33, 302–310. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2012.07.004
5. Steensel, R. van. (2006). Relations between socio-cultural factors, the home literacy
environment and children’s literacy development in the first years of primary education.
Journal of Research in Reading, 29, 367–382.
Anu Alanko
University of Oulu, Finland
DIGITAL GOVERNANCE - EXPLORING PUPILS’ EXPERIENCES ON DIGITIZED
HOME-SCHOOL COOPERATION
Keywords: Digitized home-school cooperation, actor-network-theory, governance
Schools are nowadays utilizing digital systems and devices actively, and they have also offered
new channels for home-school cooperation. In this presentation, I will explore students’
experiences on digitized home-school operation in the context of school administration
software WILMA that has become a common channel for home-school cooperation in Finland.
It is utilized from basic to secondary and upper secondary education. Through Wilma, students
can, for example, check their grades, read announcements, get feedback and communicate with
their teachers. Teachers can grade their students, register absences and update students’
personal information, and communicate with students and their guardians. Furthermore,
guardians can communicate with the teachers and follow their children’s progress at school.
(Visma 2018.) However, Wilma does not come without challenges, and it is discussed in public
discussion on a regular basis. Both teachers and parents may use Wilma in questionable ways,
and students themselves can consider it even a criminal record.
In my presentation, I approach Wilma as a socio-material practice through the experiences of
secondary school students. Theoretically, I posit the work on the field of material sociology,
and especially on actor-network theory (Latour 2005) that has inspired me to approach Wilma
as a network of human and non-human actors. I will also discuss Wilma as a technique of
governance (see Foucault 1989; Kaisto & Pyykkönen 2010; Kaisto 2010) and ask, how do
students adjust themselves and their behavior according to the rules of educational system. Data
consists of interviews conducted among secondary and upper secondary school students, aged
13 to 18. Data is analyzed with the conceptual tools from actor-network theory and analytics of
governance. Based on the data, the assemblage of Wilma consists of different positions of actors
that are not static and ever-lasting, and that are of human and non-human origin. It is to
oversimplify that, for example, teachers ‘possess the power’ in Wilma and that students (and
their guardians) are mere defendants. Furthermore, Wilma appears as an entanglement of sociomaterial relations that both challenge and allow different actors to perform in the context of
Wilma.
References:
1. Foucault, M. 1980. Tarkkailla ja rangaista. Suom. Eevi Nivanka. Otava, Helsinki.
2. Kaisto, J. & Pyykkönen, M. 2010. Johdanto. Hallinnan analytiikan suuntaviivoja. In.
J. Kaisto & M. Pyykkönen (eds.) Hallintavalta: sosiaalisen, politiikan ja talouden
kysymyksiä. Gaudeamus, Helsinki; 7–24.
3. Latour, B. 2005. Reassembling the social: an introduction to actor-network-theory.
Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York.
4. VISMA.
2018.
Päivittäinen
ja
turvallinen
palvelu
kaikille
kouluarkeen.
https://www.visma.fi/inschool/wilma/
Anu Alanko
Outi Autti
Unn-Doris Baeck
University of Oulu, Finland & University of Tromsø , The Arctic University of Norway
Remoteness - a challenge for home-school cooperation?
Keywords: rurality, spatiality, remoteness, home-school cooperation
Anu Alanko & Unn-Doris Baeck will be presenting.
In our presentation, we approach home-school cooperation from the point of view of spatiality
and rurality and discuss, how remoteness constructs home-school cooperation. Earlier research
(e.g. Baeck 2010; Epstein & Sanders 2000; Evans 2013) has pointed out the importance of
parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling. In Finland, equality is considered a central
value in the educational system. However, children attend schools with different socioeconomic backgrounds as well as in diverse geographical spaces. In educational research issues
such as spatial inequality (e.g. Siekkinen 2017), rurality and education (e.g. Baeck 2015) and
rural schools’ closures (Autti & Hyry-Beihammer 2014) have acknowledged the controversial
nature of educational equality. Our presentation is part of the project “RUR-ED Spatial
Inequalities and Spatial Justice in Education”, which focus is on how space affects educational
inequalities in Norway, Finland and Canada. In this presentation, we concentrate on the Finnish
data, which consists of ten interviews of secondary and upper secondary school students’
parents. Our study follows the guidelines of qualitative research in exploring parents’
experiences and meaning making processes.
Parents experience home-school cooperation as an important aspect of their children’s
schooling. However, as many families in rural areas live relatively far away from the schools,
interaction between families and schools may face challenges; for example, how easily families
can attend the parent’s evenings and other events at school that are usually organized during
the evenings or parent-discussions daytime when parents are working outside the community?
Thus, spatial remoteness actively constructs how parents are able to interact with the schools.
Data also suggests that remoteness has an emotional or a mental dimension. Many teachers
commute to work from a larger city. According to parents, teachers living outside the
municipality, lack local knowledge that would help them in their work but would also help them
to attach to the place they work in. This raises questions about how available commuting
teachers are, for example, in relation to home-school cooperation. Furthermore, remoteness
seems to have something to do with parents’ own school memories and how their own parents
supported their schooling in general.
References:
1. Autti, O. & Hyry-Beihammer, E. K. 2014. School closures in rural Finnish
communities. Journal of Research in Rural Education 29 (1): 1-17.
2. Baeck, U.-D. 2010. Parental Involvement Practices in Formalized Home-School
Cooperation. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 54 (6), 549-563.
3. Baeck, U.-D. 2015. Rural Location and Academic Success - Remarks on
Research, Contextualisation and Methodology. Scandinavian Journal of Educational
Research 60 (4): 435-448.
4. Epstein, J.L., & Sanders, M.G. (2000). Connecting home, school, and community: New
directions for social research. In M.T. Hallinan (Ed.), Handbook of the sociology of
education. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 285–306.
5. Evans, M. P. 2013. “Educating preservice teachers for family, school and community
engagement.” Teaching Education 24 (2): 123–133.
6. Siekkinen, K. 2017. Koulutuksellisen tasa-arvon diskurssit ja toimijat peruskoulun
tuntijakouudistuksessa [Educational equality discourses and actors’ reform of the
distribution of lesson hours in Comprehensive School]. yväskylä, Jyväskylän yliopisto.
Martha Allexsaht-Snider
Mehtap Kirmaci
Cristina Valencia Mazzanti
University of Georgia, USA
Elif Karsli Calamak
University of South Carolina, USA
Global perspectives on education and migration: Designing dialogic, equitable, and
inclusive spaces for family engagement
Keywords: family engagement; migration; equity; inclusion; informal education
In 2018, the UN adopted a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, asserting
that migration defines our globalized world, connecting all of us across countries and regions
of the world. The Global Compact systematically addresses migrants’-men’s, women’s and
children’s- human rights, and, in particular, calls us to “provide inclusive and equitable quality
education to migrant children and youth, as well as facilitate access to lifelong learning
opportunities, including by strengthening the capacities of education systems and by facilitating
non-discriminatory access to early childhood development, formal schooling, non-formal
education programmes for children for whom the formal system is inaccessible, on-the-job and
vocational training, technical education, and language training to create conducive conditions
that enable all migrants to enrich our societies through their human, economic and social
capacities” (United Nations, 2018, p.23).
The 2019 ERNAPE Conference theme, “Parent Engagement as Power: Empowering Children,
Schools, and Societies,” asks us to consider school and community contexts for education
where democracy is enacted and experienced, a call that aligns with goals outlined in the UN
Global Compact. In the paper presented here we outline principles of life-long, life-wide, and
life-deep learning drawn from the work of the LIFE (Learning in Informal and Formal
Environments) Center related to family engagement in multiple contexts and with culturally
and linguistically diverse resources (González, et al., 2005; Banks, et al., 2007; Author, 2017;
Authors, 2018; 2019). We illustrate the ways these principles align with the design of dialogic
and equitable spaces for family engagement described by international researchers who have
studied with educators and community members to include and integrate families and children
who have migrated to their communities from different areas of the world (Christie & Szorenyi,
2015; Denessen, et al., 2007; Deslandes, et al., 2012; Li & Li, 2015). In conclusion we consider
how the LIFE principles might be adapted to creating inclusive formal and informal spaces for
family engagement practices that meet the goals, aspirations, and needs of families, children,
and educators in different regions of the world experiencing migration.
References:
1. Authors. (2017).
2. Authors. (2018).
3. Authors. (2019).
4. Banks, J.A., Au, K. H., Ball, A.F, Bell, P., Gordon, E.W, Gutiérrez, K.D., Heath, S. B.,
Lee, C.D., Lee, Y., Mahiri, J., Suad Nasir, N., Valdés, G., Zhou, M. (2007). Learning
in and out of school in diverse environments: Life-long, life-wide, life-deep. Seattle,
WA: The LIFE (Learning in Informal and Formal Environments) Center, University of
Washington, Stanford University, and SRI International. Retrieved from http://lifeslc.org/docs/Banks_etal-LIFE-Diversity-Report.pdf
5. Christie, S. & Szorenyi, A. (2015). Theorizing the relationship between UK schools and
immigrant parents of Eastern and Central European origin: The parents’ perspective.
International Journal of Parents in Education, 9(1). 145-156.
6. Denessen, E., Bakker, J., & Gierveld, M. (2007). Multi-ethnic schools’ parental
involvement policies and practices. School Community Journal, 17(2), 27–43. Retrieved
from http://www. schoolcommunitynetwork.org/SCJ.aspx
7. Deslandes, R., Trudeau, F., Rivard, M., Lemoyn, J. , Joyal, F. (2012). Role of family,
school, peers and community in the adaptation process of young immigrants.
International Journal of Parents in Education, 6(1), 1-14.
8. González, N., Moll, L., & Amanti, C. (2005). Introduction: Theorizing practices. In N.
Gonzalez, L. C. Moll, & C. Amanti (Eds.), Funds of knowledge (pp. 1-28). New York,
NY: Routledge.
9. Li, J. & Li, Y. (2015). Does parental involvement contribute to students’ development?
The parent-child homework experiment at a Shanghai migrant school. International
Journal of Parents in Education, 9(1), 1-9.
10. United Nations. (2018). Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration.
Retrieved
from
https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/sites/default/files/180711_final_draft_0.pdf
Tahani Mohammed Alsaeid
School of Education (Early Childhood Research Centre)
Roehampton University
Attitudes to Parental Involvement in Preschool in Saudi Arabia: A parental perspective
(with specific reference to mothers and female guardians)
Keywords: Parental involvement, preschool education in Saudi Arabia, Bourdieu’s’ theory of
practice, Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s model of parental involvement process, mixed
methods
New educational initiatives have been introduced by the Saudi government to increase parental
involvement in education by 80% by 2030, this includes public preschool education. However,
currently little is known about parents’ attitudes and views that might enhance parental
involvement practices in preschool education in Saudi Arabia. Parental involvement in
children’s education is associated with significant positive outcomes for children, parents,
teachers, and schools. Evidence consistently demonstrates that parents’ attitudes and
socioeconomic status are critical factors mediating the involvement of parents in their
children’s learning (Bennett, 2007; Calzada et al., 2015; Crozier, 2000; Crozier & Reay, 2005;
Grant & Ray, 2013; Johnson et al., 2015; Lau, Li, & Rao, 2012; Mahmood, 2013; Murray,
McFarland-Piazza, & Harrison, 2015; Share & Kerrins, 2013; Williams & Sanchez, 2011).
Parental involvement is a complex, multifaceted, and dynamic concept that cannot be
sufficiently understood by using one singular research method. By using mixed methods in this
research provided it with both breadth and depth.
This study is informed by Bourdieu’s theory of practice (1977, 1990) as well as HooverDempsey and Sandler’s model of parental involvement process (1997, 2005). Bourdieu’s
concepts of habitus, capital, and field uncover the influencing structures, overt and covert, and
how all these are connected, whereas, Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s work conceptualizes the
subjective motivations and their relationship to parental involvement practices.
Paper- based questionnaires were used in 16 randomly selected public preschools, with 358
parents’ responses and interviews with 18 parents in the two case study preschools. The numeric
data gathered from the questionnaires were analysed statistically. The interviews were
transcribed and analysed thematically.
Questionnaire data showed that parents have positive beliefs and perceptions about parental
involvement in preschool education. It also showed that parents are not so involved in preschool
activities and meetings, yet surprisingly they were highly involved in all aspects of the child’s
life at home. The interviews revealed that parental involvement is influenced by disparate
factors, including personal experiences and resources, communication, relationship with the
preschool, and cultural expectations.
This research allows us to gain valuable insights into the factors influencing parental
involvement in preschool education in Saudi Arabia.
The Research Questions
1. In what way are parents’ attitudes associated with parental involvement activities and practices
across preschool settings in Riyadh?
2. What are parents’ conceptualizations about parental involvement; what are perceived to be the
motivating and/or barriers to parental involvement across settings within the context of a sample
of preschools in Riyadh?
References:
1. Bennett, T. (2007). Mapping family resources and support. In D. Koralek (Ed.).
Spotlight on young children and families. Washington, DC: National Association for
the Education of Young Children.
2. Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. (R. Nice, Trans). Cambridge: UK. (Original
work published in 1980)
3. Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. (R. Nice, Trans). Cambridge: UK.
(Original work published in 1972)
4. Calzada, E. J, Huang, K., Hernandez, M., Soriano, E., Acra, C. F., Dawson-McClure,
5. S.,…Brotman, L. (2015). Family and teachers characteristics as predictors of parent
involvement in education during early childhood among Afro-Caribbean and Lation
immigrant
families.
Urban
Education,
50(7),
870-896.
doi:
10.1177/0042085914534862
6. Crozier, G. (2000). Parents and school: Partners or protagonists? England: Trentham
Books Limited.
7. Crozier, G., & Reay, D. (2005). Activating participation: Parents and teachers working
towards partnerships. London: Institute of Education Press.
8. Grant, K. B., & Ray, J. A. (2013). Home, school, and community collaboration:
Culturally responsive family involvement (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: SAGE.
9. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., & Sandler, H. M. (1997). Why do parents become involved in
their children’s education? Review of Educational Research, 67(1), 3-42.
doi:10.3102/00346543067001003
10. Johnson, S. B., Arevalo, J, Cates, C. B., Weisleder, A., Dreyer, B. P., Mendelsohn,
11. A. L. (2015). Perception about parental engagement among Hispanic immigrant
mothers of first grade from low-income background. Early Childhood Education
Journal, 1-8. doi: 10.1007/s10643-015-0728-z
12. Lau, E. Y. H., Li, H., & Rao, N. (2012). Exploring parental in early years education in
China: Development and validation of the Chinese early parental involvement scale
(CEPIS). International Journal of Early Years Education, 20(4), 405-421. doi:
10.1080/09669760.2012.743099
13. Mahmood, S. (2013). First-year preschool and kindergarten teachers: Challenges of
working with parents. School Community Journal, 23(2), 55-85. Retrieved from
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1028824
14. Murray, E., McFarland-Piazza, L., & Harrison, L. J. (2015). Changing patterns of parent
teacher communication and parent involvement from preschool to school. Early Child
Development and Care, 185(7), 1031-1052. doi: 10.1080/03004430.2014.975223
15. Share, M., & Kerrins, L. (2013). Supporting parental involvement in children’s early
learning: Lessons from community childcare centers in Dublin’s Docklands. Child Care
in Practice, 19(4), 355-374. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1023054
16. Walker, J. M., Wilkins, A. S., Dallaire, J. R., Sandler, H. M., & Hoover-Dempsey, K.
V. (2005). Parental involvement: Model revision through scale development. The
Elementary School Journal, 106(2), 86-104. doi: 10.1086/499193
17. Williams, T. T. Sanchez, B. (2011). Identifying and decreasing barriers to parent
involvement
for
inner-city
parents. Youth
&
Society
45(1),
54-74.
doi:
10.1177/0044118X11409066
Bartosz Atroszko
University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Social Sciences, Poland
Parents of students - the barrier of educational change or the change agent?
Key words: educational change, barriers of change, change agent.
Research problem: The reason for taking up the subject was the willingness to understand the
reasons for the invariability of the model of education prevailing in Polish schools, despite its
rather obvious flaws.
Aim: The aim of the research was to investigate the question: Do teachers perceive students'
parents as a barrier to change or as a change agent? The presented data come from an
empirical study conducted as a part of the PhD thesis entitled: The meanings ascribed by
teachers to the barriers to change of the dominant educational model [Polish: Znaczenia
nadawane przez nauczycieli barierom zmiany dominującego modelu kształcenia].
Methodology: The study is based on the interpretative paradigm, idiographic approach, and
social constructivism as a methodological orientation. Fifteen secondary school teachers took
part in the study. The research method was an individual, qualitative interview. Research took
place from December 2015 to July 2017. Due to the explorative nature of this study, there were
no hypotheses.
Findings: Teachers participating in the study perceive parents of students almost exclusively as
a source of barriers to change. They point out the negative impact of parents on teachers who
are trying to work with creative teaching methods. Teachers emphasize the lack of parents'
understanding for innovative teaching methods, their conservatism, as well as the perception of
education mostly through the prism of their children's grades and results in exams. None of the
teachers indicated parents as a source of changes in education. According to the participants of
the study, parents are reluctant to engage in school life, are fastidious towards the school, and
often have unrealistic expectations for their children.
Teachers’ views on the parents of pupils and their role in education seems to be one-sided and
certainly should not be accepted uncritically. Current trends in Polish education, such as the
huge popularity of kindergartens and schools based on the Montessori method or the dynamic
development of democratic schools (which are de facto often founded by parents), seems to
indicate that parents are increasingly interested in changing the way their children are educated.
References:
1. Babbie, E. (2007). Badania społeczne w praktyce. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe
PWN.
2. Berger, P. L., Luckmann, T. (1983). Społeczne tworzenie rzeczywistości. Warszawa:
Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
3. Gawlicz, K. (2018). Szkoły demokratyczne w Polsce: raport z badań Dolnośląskiej
Szkoły
Wyższej
i
Instytutu
Badań
Edukacyjnych.
Pobrane
z:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVe0N1MrZ58, date of entry: February 6, 2019].
4. Guba, E. G., Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing Paradigms in Qualitative Research. W:
N. K. Denzin, Y. S. Lincoln (eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 105-117).
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
5. Konarzewski, K. (2000). Jak uprawiać badania oświatowe. Metodologia praktyczna.
Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne Spółka Akcyjna.
6. Schwandt, T. A. (1994). Constructivist, Interpretivist Approaches to Human Inquiry.
W: Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 118-137), N. K. Denzin, Y. S. Lincoln (eds.),
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Lucyna Bakiera
Department of Psychology of Human Development and Family Studies
Institute of Psychology, Adam Mickiewicz Uniwersity in Poznań, Poland
How to measure parental involvement?
Key words: parenting, involvement, engaged parenting, questionnaire
Parenting (not only parenthood), like any other area of human activity, can be analyzed
from the perspective of how the fulfillment of role is. The deficit of empirical methods relating
to parental activities is noticeable, which justifies such searches. Engaged parenting is an
expression of accepting the parental role. It is distinguished by responsive support related to
child’s development. I understand it as an optimal concentration on caring and educative tasks
for a child. In such a case, parental activity is seen as a sign of balance between acknowledging
dependence of a child and child’s autonomy, inspiration for activity and protection against risk.
Taking into account that the parental role is important both for adults and for the behavior and
development of the child, the search for methods of describing the implementation of the
parenting style seems to be particularly important.
For this reason, an attempt to create a tool, in which differentiating category of mother’
and father’s role is involvement in parenting was taken. The paper presents the concept of
involvement, the operationalization and author’s Parental Involvement Questionnaire. The
process of constructing the questionnaire was multistage. In the study of which results were
used to conduct analyses pertaining to the Parental Involvement Questionnaire 231 adults took
part. The aim of the study was to validate the PIQ.
Studies emphasize that parental engagement leads to outcomes in the form of adult selfcreation and the form of desired conditions relating to a child’s development, mainly
determined by the attitude of parental acceptation.
References:
1. Bakiera, L. (2017). Doświadczanie rodzicielstwa i doświadczenia rodzicielskie.
Propozycja konceptualizacji. Psychologia Rozwojowa, 22(2),15-31.
2. Bakiera, L. (2014). Zaangażowanie w rodzicielstwo na tle współczesnej rodziny.
Kultura i Edukacja, 2(102), 146-172.
3. Bakiera, L. (2014). Zaangażowane rodzicielstwo a autokreacyjny aspekt rozwoju
dorosłych. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Difin.
4. Bracke D., Corts D. (2012). Parental involvement and the theory of planned behavior.
Education, 133(1), 188-201.
5. Wall G., Arnold S. (2007). How involved is involved fathering?: An exploration of the
contemporary culture of fatherhood. Gender and Society, 21(4), 508-527.
Marcin Boryczko
University of Gdańsk
Ethical challenges in researching minors and youth with refugee experience and the role
of parents in the research process. An example of 1.5 Generation research.
Keywords: ethics, consent, relational autonomy, power relations
This presentation highlights some of the central ethical issues involved in undertaking research
with refugees and forced migrants (McKenzie et al. 2007). It focuses on the role of parents and
engaging parents in research with minors and youth with refugee experience. Firstly, it explores
the difficulties of constructing ethical relations based on informed consent and engaging
parents. Secondly, it focuses on such challenges as refugee participants’ capacities for
autonomy. Thirdly, it assumes that the research process should be based on the principle of
reciprocal benefits for refugees and researchers.
Research questions: in what ways do young refugees (generation 1.5) represent themselves,
and how they negotiate and construct their identities? We were interested in their identity work
during their transition from a country of origin and hosting country. Poland in this case.
Aim: We are trying to reconstruct how dominant discourses are reproduced in term of youth
cultural practices and symbols.
The methodology was based on the interpretative paradigm which assumes that the data is not
the object but is created by the researcher and researched during the interaction. We assumed
that this approach would allow us better access to meanings, opinions and feelings of
participants. It was an integral part of the process. We used photo-elicitation interviews - visual
images to elicit comments on photos. It was possibly the best way that could add validity and
reliability to a word-based survey (Higgins, 2009) .
Findings:
• researchers should try to find ways to go beyond standard ethical principles in research and
establish equal and beneficial for both sides of the relations
• researchers should try to involve parents into research process establishing deep and
reciprocal relations avoiding exploitation.
References:
Mackenzie, Catriona, McDowell Christopher, Pittaway Eileen (2007) Beyond ‘Do No Harm’:
The Challenge of Constructing Ethical Relationships in Refugee Research.”Journal of Refugee
Studies”, vol. 20, nr 2, s. 299-319.
J. Higgins J., Nairn K., Sligo J., Alternative ways of expressing and reading identity,
“Ethnography and Education” 2009, nr 4, s. 83-99.
Laid Bouakaz
Malmö University, Sweden
Supplementary schools. Complementary or rival for mainstream schools in Sweden.
Keywords: Supplementary schools, complementary schools, learner identity, parental
involvement, minority parents.
Today's supplementary schools are a result of the rapid development of society in recent
decades, globalization and the emergence of multicultural society (Abdelrazak, 2001; Hall
m.fl., 2002; Reay & Mirza, 1997, 2005; Creese m.fl., 2010; Bouakaz, 2007, 2012). Reay and
Mirza (1997, 2005) argue that supplementary schools should be seen as a response to exclusion,
as well as good practice for integration and proof of parental involvement. The study is to
investigate whether complementary schools pay special attention to children's and young
people's cultural and educational needs more than what a state mainstream schools do.
The outcomes are analyzed using the US Cultural Sociologist Jeffrey Alexander Civil Sphere
Theory (CST) which provides a more dynamic, cultural, and democratically oriented model of
contemporary society than either conflict or modernization theory. Alexander’s concept of
“civil repair” is central. Biesta (2006, 2009) refers to qualification, socialization and
subjectification. These three functions are used to understand the outcomes.
The collection of the empirical data on which this paper is based has both a quantitative and a
qualitative character and the study. However, the basic methodological approach is to be
regarded as ethnographic. The results show that these schools tend to be very important identity
stations where translanguaging is highly present and where students feel that their learner
identity is an important aspect connected to the other forms of identities such as religious,
cultural, social and ethnic.
References:
1. Abdelrazak, M. (2001). Towards More Effective Supplementary and Mother Tongue
Schools (in England), London: Resource Unit for Supplementary and Mother Tongue
Schools.
2. Alexander, JC.(2006). The Civil Sphere. New York: Oxford University Press.
3. Biesta, G.J.J. (2006). Beyond Learning: Democratic Education for a Human Future.
Boulder, Co: Paradigm Publishers.
4. Biesta, G.J.J. (2009). Good Education in an Age of Measurement. Educational
Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability 21(1), 33-46.
5. Bouakaz, L. (2007). Parental involvement in school. What hinders and what promotes
parental involvement in an urban school. Malmö Studies in Educational Sciences, nr
30. Malmö University.
6. Creese A. Blackledge A. J. ( 2010). Multilingualism. A Critical Perspective (Advances
in Sociolinguistics), London: Continuum.
7. Hall, K. A., Özerk, K., Zulfiqar, M. & Tan, J. E. C. (2002). This is our school: Provision,
purpose and pedagogy of sup- plementary schooling in Leeds and Oslo. British
Educational Research Journal, 28(2), 399 – 418.
8. Reay, D. & Mirza, H. S. (1997). Uncovering genealogies of the margins: Black
supplementary schooling. British Journal of Sociology of Education 18(4), 477–499.
9. Reay, D. & Mirza, H. S. (2005). Doing parental involvement differently: black women’s
participation as educators and mothers in black supplementary schooling. I G. Crozier
& D. Reay (Eds.), Activating participation: Parents and teachers working towards
partnership (pp. 137–154). Stoke-on-Trent, UK: Trentham Books.
Agnieszka Bzymek
Ateneum High School in Gdańsk, Poland
Education and Social Engagement as a Power. Resilience in the Seniors Biography
Narratives
Keywords: resilience, biography narrative, senior, education, social engagement;
The following study was collated within the framework of the projects which I realized
in the Daily Care Home of the Local Support Center in Gdansk from 2016 to 2018. The contents
include my considerations based on available literature while preparing for further research.
I use qualitative method (Denzin, Lincoln 2009): the biography method and biography
narrative (i.a. Konecki 2009; Kvale 2010; Lalak 2010). I focus on the issue of resilience (Rutter
1987) in pedagogical thought, especially in the school context and social relations. I am looking
for external factors such as the safe neighborhood, membership of a pro-social organization
(Borucka, Ostaszewski 2008).
Furthermore, these factors are in the biography narratives as a result of the author’s
personal observations and reflections. At the end I analyze all interviews where I find social
engagement and education to make one more resilient my interviewers. In other words, seniors
education and social engagement are their empowering. All of respondents to recalled the
school as a one of the most important factor to make them more resilient. In addition to this, I
show the importance of the social environment, education and family forces.
Stefano Castelli
Department of Psychology
Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy
Teaching in the Time of the Internet. A Case Study from Italy
Keywords: Internet social effects; empowerment of parents; new teaching responsibilities
General description
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Internet in transforming our culture and
societies. The Internet is not just a technological and neutral tool, but it is a powerful element
capable of changing the very roots of our lives. Concerns about the ways in which the Internet
might affect the school system have been raised since its beginning, mainly concentrating on
the cognitive and emotional effects exerted on youngsters. However, even stronger effects are
taking place on the social side. The basic concepts of the web maintain close connections with
the context of Californian counterculture of the 1960s, stemming from the desire of empowering
people by disintermediating access to knowledge. This “long-running collaboration between
San Francisco flower power and the emerging technological hub of Silicon Valley” (Turner,
2006) resulted in the disappearance of many traditional mediators. We buy plane tickets directly
from airlines: so, no more travel agencies. We buy books on Amazon: so, no more bookshops.
Teachers also, as institutional mediators between “culture” and society, are heavily affected by
this trend, for what regards their relationships with both students and their parents.
Methods
In order to understand the impact of the web on the professional praxis of teachers, a case study
(Ridder, 2017) was developed in a secondary school in Milano (Italy), providing a detailed
picture of teachers’ daily work in managing their relationships with parents and students.
Conclusions
Comparing the results of our study with previous research findings, it is possible to detect
important ongoing changes in teachers’ self-perception of their professional role.
References:
1. Ridder, H.G. (2017). The theory contribution of case study research designs. Business
Research, 10, 281–305.
2. Turner, F. (2006). From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole
Earth Network and the Rise of Digital Utopianism. Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press,
Barbara Chojnacka-Synaszko
Department of Social Pedagogy and Intercultural Education
Faculty of Ethnology and Educational Sciences, Silesia University in Katowice, Cieszyn,
Poland
A parent engaging, or a parent engaged by a teacher in school education of a child at a
younger school age
Keywords: parents, active and passive engagement, school education, a child at a younger
school age
Depending on how parents engage in activities for the child, they can increase or decrease their
chances of extending the repertoire of their own skills in contact with the child and can support
their child in science to a greater or lesser extent and participate in the his school education. In
order to characterize the type of parents' involvement in supporting the learning of a child at a
younger school age, the concept of classifying the participation of parents and teachers in the
joint education and upbringing of the younger generation in terms of Volker Krumm was
adopted. In terms of parents, he distinguishes four types of involvement. The first two are
active, that is, "parents engage themselves", and the other two are passive, meaning "parents
are engaged by teachers". Active involvement means participation in learning a child at home
and active involvement of parents in the child's school situation. In turn, the parents'
involvement in school on the initiative of the teacher and the participation of parents in learning
the child at home from the inspiration of teachers were classified as passive. Taking into account
the list of types of parents' involvement in the child's school education, it is worth trying to
determine which of them are actually displayed by parents. Survey research was initiated. A
questionnaire for parents was used. The aim of this research is to present parents' opinions at a
younger school age closer to their own complicity in school education, indicating which types
of involvement are represented by parents and determining to what extent the commitment
variant adopted by parents is the right approach. The ventures undertaken by the surveyed
parents usually fall within the scope of active and passive participation in supporting a child in
science (especially in the home environment), although measures should be taken to strengthen
the active and passive involvement of parents in the organization and the course of child
education at the school.
References:
1. Bieroń K. (2012). Potencjał współpracy. In: G. Mazurkiewicz (Ed.), Jakość w edukacji:
różnorodne perspektywy. (pp. 288-296) Kraków, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu
Jagiellońskiego.
2. Lulek B (2017). Od edukowania do rodzicielskiego działania. O dostrzeganiu
problemów, gotowości poszukiwania rozwiązań i podejmowaniu ryzyka w edukacji
szkolnej dziecka. In: J. Malinowska, E, Jezierska-Wiejak (Eds.), Dziecko w sytuacjach
uczenia się. Codzienność w poznawaniu świata i siebie. (pp. 175-186) Wrocław,
Instytut Pedagogiki Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego.
3. Mendel M. (2007). Rodzice i nauczyciele jako sprzymierzeńcy. Gdańsk, Wydawnictwo
„Harmonia”.
4. Śliwerski B (2004). Możliwości rozpoznania sensu współdziałania szkoły, rodziców i
uczniów w społeczeństwie wolnorynkowym. In: I. Nowosad, M. J. Szymański (Eds.),
Nauczyciele i rodzice. W poszukiwaniu nowych znaczeń i interpretacji współpracy. (pp.
46-47). Zielona Góra-Kraków, Oficyna Wydawnicza Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego.
5. Whalley M. (2008). Jak włączyć rodziców do nauki dzieci? Warszawa, WSiP, Fraszka
Edukacyjna.
6. Winiarski M. (2013). Współpraca rodziców i nauczycieli – perspektywa kontynuacji i
zmiany. Pedagogika Społeczna 2 (48), pp.23-46.
Anna Ciepielewska-Kowalik
Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Parents in primary schools. Co-production and co-creation as innovative tools of
democratization education policy in Poland
Co-production and co-creation, understood as users’ involvement in both planning public
policies and the provision of public services, has been recognized as new ways of improving
the quality of publicly financed services, which enable to minimize public finances (Pestoff,
Brandsen&Versuchere eds. 2012; Brandsen, Steen&Verschuere eds. 2018) This makes them
pragmatic tools of reforming current welfare states. On the other hand, however, co-production
and co-creation –by making service users’ active citizens instead of giving them only the right
to “vote with their feet”- have been claimed as promising ways of democratization public
policies (Pestoff, 2009).
The aim of the paper is to utilize co-production and co-creation approach to recognize current
state, trends and obstacles in parents’ involvement in primary education in Poland. Analyses
are carried out on three different levels, including primary schools, municipalities and countrylevel. The paper presents the ways, tools, and directions, which are used by parents as
individuals gathered at schools and acting in the form of more (third sector organizations) or
less (social movements) institutionalized organizations to shape education policy and provide
education services. The paper presents how primary education –treating as an institutional pool
(Fligstein, Adam 2011)- is modified by its main actors (parents’, local governments,
government and its agencies, and education trade unions), and whether or not it is open for
greater parents’ involvement.
Author’s previous research (Ciepielewska-Kowalik 2016) revealed that since 1989 citizens
have been undertaking different kinds of activities aimed at improving their role as education
users, starting with running third sector schools, through expressing their active abjection
towards different governmental reforms.
The paper presents author’s results of her research carried out within the project financed by
National Science Centre, and devoted to co-production in education policy. Both qualitative
and quantitative methods have been used there, including quantitative parents’ research in
primary schools, and qualitative research of third sector organizations running primary schools,
and qualitative research on education experts (academics, politicians, third sector’s and social
movements leaders, local governments’ organizations leaders).
References:
1. Ciepielewska-Kowalik A. (2016) Koprodukcja w polityce opieki I edukacji
przedszkolnej. Warszawa: ISP PAN.
2. Pestoff, V., Brandsen, T., Verschuere, B. (eds.) (2012) New Public Governance, the
Third Sector and Co-Production. Routledge.
3. Brandsen, T., Steen, T., Verschuere B. (eds.) (2018) Co-Production and Co-Creation.
Engaging Citizens in Public Services. Routledge.
Gill Crozier
University of Roehampton, United Kingdom
High Stakes, High Risks in the Parent-School Relationship. A discussion of parent-school
relationships and the expenditure of labour, with reference to marginalised groups.
Keywords: intensification of parenting; race and social class; emotional labour
Parental involvement in children’s schooling involves three types of labour: domestic labour
(e.g. providing meals, the school uniform, ensuring the child gets to school on time),
professional labour (e.g. supporting homework, listening to the child read, providing
educational experiences), and emotional labour (the personal investment, emotional
expenditure as a result of the pressures their children experience in the school context) (Crozier
2005a). In this paper I will discuss this typology within the discourse of the intensification of
parenting (Crozier 2019). Parents’ involvement in their children’s education both in relation to
school as well as outside of school, has become competitive and highly pressurised for most
parents in the West. As well as being time consuming and costly, it also involves the
expenditure of emotional labour. Whilst this is the case for most parents, in this paper I focus
on parents who are in various ways ‘disadvantaged’. These parents may have low incomes,
limited educational qualifications, be unemployed or might be from a Black or Minority Ethnic
(BME) group who experience racial discrimination and prejudice.
In order to explore further these ideas of intensification I revisit some empirical studies I have
undertaken previously (Crozier 2004, 2005b, 2009). Through the analysis I will demonstrate
the impact of both the intensification of the expectations on parents, in terms for example of the
emotional costs and also the outcomes for these parents of their extensive efforts and show what
limited results this resulted in for their children. In order to analyse and make sense of these
processes and behaviours I employ Bourdieu’s (1990) concepts of habitus and field together
with Critical Race Theory (Gillborn 2012) and Whiteness theories (Garner 2007; Bhopal 2018)
and Hochschild (1983) on emotional labour.
The research studies (Crozier 2004, 2005b, 2009) adopted an interpretivist paradigm and
involved qualitative interviews and thematic data analysis.
In conclusion I argue that rather than schools focusing on the parent as ‘the problem’, schools,
teachers, and community workers need to work collectively with parents to develop and ensure
more respectful behaviours and to address the material disadvantage and structural and
ideological barriers that prevent BME and ‘disadvantaged’ parents participating in their
children’s education.
References:
1. Bourdieu, P. (1990) In Other Words. Oxford: Polity Press
2. Crozier, G. (2004) ESRC funded project, Principal Investigator, Parents, Children and
the School Experience: Asian Families’ Perspectives. (R000239671) May 2002-April
2004
3. Crozier (2005a) Beyond the Call of Duty: the impact of racism on black parents’
involvement in their children’s education. In Crozier, G. and D. Reay (eds) Activating
Participation. Parents and teachers working towards partnership. Stoke-on-Trent, UK
and Sterling, USA: Trentham Books
4. Crozier, G. (2005b.) “There’s a War Against Our children”: black parents’ views on
their children’s education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26:5 585-598
5. Crozier,G. (2009) Education, identity and Roma families: teachers' perspectives and
engagement with INSETRom training. Intercultural Education. Vol. 20, No. 6, 537–
548 (with J. Davies and K. Szymanski)
6. Crozier, G. (2019) Interrogating parent-school practices in a market-based system. The
professionalisation of parenting and intensified parental involvement: is this what
schools want? In T. Turner-Vorbeck & S. B. Sheldon (Eds.), Handbook of family, school
community partnerships in education. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
7. International Handbook on Parents. USA: Wiley
8. Bhopal, K. (2018) White Privilege Bristol: Policy Press
9. Garner, S. (2007) Whiteness. London and New York: Routledge.
10. Gillborn, D. (2005) Education as an act of white supremacy: whiteness, Critical Race
Theory and education reform. Journal of Education Policy. 20: 485-505
11. Hochschild, A. (1983) The Managed Heart. Berkeley and LA: The University of
California Press
Eleni Damianidou
Helen Phtiaka
University of Cyprus, Cyprus
PARENTS AS STUDENTS: FINDING THE BALANCE
Keywords: parents, work-family-school conflict, returned students, second chance schools
Despite the considerable number of non-traditional students re-enrolling at second chance
schools for returned adults in Cyprus, the high dropout rate is a growing concern. Since
typically non-traditional students have multiple roles and conflicting responsibilities from the
different domains, i.e. work, family and school (Kirby, Biever, Martinez and Gomez, 2004),
questions arise regarding the actual factors, which are related to dropout behaviour within this
population. Hence, the study’s purpose was to examine the potential impact of the conflict
between work, family and school on absenteeism from high-school, and the role academic
motivation might have, for non-traditional students in Cyprus.
The main research questions were: a) what is the relationship between work-family-school
conflict and dropout behavior for non-traditional students in Cyprus? b) what is the impact of
academic motivation on dropout behavior?
In order to answer the above questions, we conducted a mixed method research. The main
research tools were the semi-structured interview with former returned adults with dropout
behavior and a structured questionnaire for the students of a second chance school in Cyprus.
Thematic analysis indicated that the interviewees abandoned second chance school because
they could not respond to their multiple role of being parents, workers and students
simultaneously.
The findings from statistical analysis confirmed the above view, since a positive correlation
was found between absenteeism and working hours (r=0.412, p<0.01) or having children
(r=0.309, p<0.05). Moreover, it was found that 41% of the participants experienced workfamily-school conflict. Intention to dropout was higher for students that experienced workfamily-school conflict compared to those who did not (χ2=5.523, p<0.05) and for men compared
to women (χ2=4.554, p<0.05). It is noteworthy that academic motivation was negatively related
to intention to dropout (r=-0.560, p<0.01).
In conclusion, it seems that being a parent, a worker and a student is not an easy job. Trying to
find the balance between the demands from the different domains may result to work-familyschool conflict, which may lead to dropout. However academic motivation may mediate the
above relationship, increasing the likelihood of returned adults graduating from high-school.
References:
1. Kirby, P. G., Biever, J. L., Martinez, I. G. & Gomez, J. P. (2004). Adults returning to
school: The impact on family and work. The Journal of Psychology, 138(1), 65-76.
Rollande Deslandes
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada
Sylvie Barma
Université Laval, Québec, Canada
Collaborative School-Family (S-F) Relationships using the Expansive Learning Cycle to
Enhance Parents Empowering in Helping their Child in Literacy
Keywords: Parental involvement, school-family collaboration, expansive learning cycle,
change laboratory method, literacy.
The benefits of parental involvement specifically in literacy have been well documented over
the years (Hawken, 2009; Dail & Payne, 2010; Villas-Boas, 2010). It has also been shown that
when introducing new ways of doing things, parents often show resistance (Deslandes &
Barma, 2018; Dodd, 1999). It is with a view to improving s-f collaboration in the context of a
new reading method La Planète des Alphas that we conducted a research intervention. The aim
of this paper is to describe how teachers question their own practices and interact with parents
(activity system boundary crossing) to seek and give help and to put forward new models of
pedagogical actions. Our goal is to shed light on how the learning process took place. Referred
as expansive learning when the transformation becomes collective (Engeström, 2015), a typical
sequence of actions comprises six phases: questioning, analysis, modeling new models,
examining and testing the new model, implementing and reflecting on the process. These phases
are coherent with the Change Laboratory methodology (CL) that we employed and which is
rooted in the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) helpful with its triangular
representation of six interconnected poles : subjects, object-oriented tools, community, rules
and division of labor. Five CL sessions conducted in the 2016-2017 school year gathered
researchers, school principal, 1st grade teacher and parents and 2 K-teachers and parents. The
sessions were videotaped and each one lasted for about 90 minutes. The data were coded and
analyzed using maxqda 2018 software. Categorization of the sense units was done through the
analysis of expressions of transformative agency used in our previous studies. In the findings
section, we highlight stimuli that were used to foster discussion and we report the tensions and
contradictions identified at the system poles and between them. We then discuss the instrumentproducing activity that were visualized and implemented as new models and how they
alleviated tensions. Reflection on the CL process will give space to discuss ways to pursue on
improvement in accompanying teachers wishing to better equip parents in the context of
litteracy.
References:
1. Dail, A. R., & Payne, R. L. (2010). Recasting the role of family involvement in early
literacy development: A response to the NELP Report. Educational Researcher 39(4),
330-333. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X10370207
2. Deslandes, R., & Barma, S. (2018). The expansive learning theory at the service of
parent-teacher collaboration. In M. Carmo (ED.), Education and New Developments
(pp. 121-125). Science Press. Budapest, Hungary.
3. Dodd, A. W. (1998). What can educators learn from parents who oppose curricular and
classroom practices? Journal of Curriculum Studies, 30(4), 461-477.
4. Engeström, Y. (2015). Learning by expanding (2nd edition): An activity-theoretical
approach to developmental research. Cambridge University Press.
5. Engeström, Y. & Sannino, A. (2016). Expansive learning on the move : Insights from
ongoing research. Journal for the Study of Education and Development.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02103702.2016.1189119
6. Haapasaari, A., Engeström, Y., & Kerosuo, H. (2014). The emergence of learners’
transformative agency in a Change Laboratory intervention. Journal of Education and
Work. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2014.900168
7. Hawken, J. (2009). Pour un enseignement efficace de la lecture et de l’écriture: une
trousse d’intervention appuyée par la recherche. Canadian Language & Literacy
Research Network (CLLRNET).
8. Sannino, A., Engeström, Y, & Lemos, M. 2016. Formative interventions for expansive
learning and transformative agency. Journal of the Learning Sciences 25(4), 599-633,
9. Villas-Boas, M. A. (2010). Parental involvement in the development of literacy. Sisifo.
Educational Sciences Journal 11, 117-126.
10. Virkkunen, J., & Newnham, D. (2013). The Change Laboratory: A tool for
collaborative development of work activities. Rotterdam, The Netherlands : Sense
Publishers.
Asnat Dor
Emek Yezreel Academic College, Israel
The Individualized Education Program: Do teachers and parents collaborate?
Keywords: individualized education program, special education, teacher-parent collaboration,
teachers' experience
This qualitative research was designed to understand Israeli teachers’ experience of the
planning and implementing of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for students with
disabilities. The IEP is planned annually according to the regulations of the Israeli Ministry of
Education, and aims to respond accurately to the unique needs of every child with disabilities.
IEPs, found to reduce disparities in school outcomes (Hinojosa, Hinojosa, Nguyen, & Bright
2017), are based on diagnosis (medical/psychological), the child’s familiarity in different
learning-related settings, school team work, and collaboration with parents. The demonstrated
benefits of teacher-parent collaboration for improving students’ academic achievements and
overall functioning (Epstein, 2013; Sanders, 2008; Skouteris, Watson, & Lum, 2012) are of
prominent importance in special education (Hedin & DeSpain, 2018; Slade, Eisenhower,
Carter, & Blacher, 2018). However, despite awareness of these benefits, interaction and
cooperation between teachers and parents are often quite limited (Ratcliff & Hunt, 2009).
Considering these limitations, and recognizing that parents are an important factor in IEP, the
current research will explore the way teachers experience and manage collaboration with
parents in IEPs.
Method: Twenty teachers (15 women, 5 men) underwent semi-structured open interviews,
following the four-question research protocol designed for this study. Thematic analysis was
used and based on Sabar Ben-Yehoshua’s (1995) protocol for qualitative data analysis.
Findings revealed that teachers perceive the parents as relevant figures in planning and
implementing IEP. When collaboration with parents was achieved, teachers evaluated their own
work as more accurate, efficient, and pleasant. However, many teachers noted that parents'
voice is not highly considered in the complex of IEP factors, especially in cases of culture or
socioeconomic gaps. This finding indicates that although teachers acknowledge parents'
importance in the IEP, they require more guidance to enable them to better activate parentteacher collaboration.
References:
1. Epstein, J. L. (2013). Ready or not? Preparing future educators for school, family, and
community
partnerships.
Teaching
Education
24,
115–118.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2013.786887
2. Hedin, L., & DeSpain, S. (2018). SMART or not? Writing specific, measurable IEP
goals.
Teaching
Exceptional
Children,
51(2),
100–110.
https://doi-
org.ezproxy.yvc.ac.il/10.1177/0040059918802587
3. Hinojosa, M., Hinojosa, R., Nguyen, J., & Bright, M. (2017). Individualized education
program development among racially/ethnically diverse children and adolescents with
health conditions. Maternal & Child Health Journal, 21(3), 583-592. https://doiorg.ezproxy.yvc.ac.il/10.1007/s10995-016-2142-6
4. Ratcliff, N., & Hunt, G. (2009). Building teacher-family partnerships: The role of
teacher preparation. Education, 129, 495-505.
5. Sabar Ben-Yehoshua, N. (1995). The qualitative research. Tel Aviv: Modan (in
Hebrew).
6. Sanders, M. G. (2008). How parent liaisons can help bridge the home-school gap.
Journal
of
Educational
Research,
101(5),
287-298.
https://doi-
org.ezproxy.yvc.ac.il/10.3200/JOER.101.5.287-298
7. Skouteris, H., Watson, B., & Lum, J. (2012). Preschool children’s transition to formal
schooling: The importance of collaboration between teachers, parents and children.
Australasian
Journal
of
Early
Childhood,
37(4),
78-85.
Retrieved
from
http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.yvc.ac.il/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=8
4616482&site=ehost-live&scope=site
8. Slade, N., Eisenhower, A., Carter, A. S., & Blacher, J. (2018). Satisfaction with
individualized education programs among parents of young children with ASD.
Exceptional
Children,
84(3),
242-260.
https://doi-
org.ezproxy.yvc.ac.il/10.1177/0014402917742923
Paola Dusi
University of Verona, Department of Human Sciences, Italy
The school-family relationship in primary education. Parents’ perspectives in the age of
the minimal self
Keywords: parents’ beliefs and expectations; parents’ educational responsibilities; new forms
of teacher-parent alliance?
With Western societies experiencing socio-anthropological upheaval, the school-family
relationship is changing radically. But in what direction?
Our study seeks to understand the perspectives of parents of school students, an increasingly
heterogeneous group. How do they experience the school-parent relationship? What
expectations and beliefs inform their conception of it? What competences do they require of
educators?
Methods/methodology
Our study is concerned, ultimately, with human experience (Polkinghorne, 1989, p. 45) and our
objective is to arrive at a faithful description of what the participants expressed. We decided
this was best served by a naturalistic paradigm and a phenomenological-eidetic approach
whereby, in order to apprehend the true qualities of things, the researcher’s personal theories
are set aside.
We were especially interested by the possibility of adopting the perspective of the other (the
parents, in this case) in the context of a complex, multistranded relationship, and collecting their
conceptualisations and interpretations of reality in a way that adheres as closely as possible to
the qualities of the phenomenon, an approach we believe can contribute strongly to this field.
With these objectives, during 2017 and 2018 the researchers administered 101 interviews
involving 103 parents (57 mothers, 46 fathers, with both a child’s parents in two cases). The
selection of participants (who all volunteered) was not premeditated, insofar as they were
identified through chance personal acquaintances with parents of primary school children in
various towns/provinces in northern Italy (Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige). With
the participants’ consent, the interviews were recorded and transcribed so that the data could be
re-examined in their original form (Silverman, 2001).
Research findings and/or conclusions
The analysed data paints a mixed picture, with a range of different parent ‘types’, and an
increasingly multistranded relationship between family and school. In particular, given the
growing influence of social media and the social-anthropological and economic changes
affecting society, the role of communication processes is greater than ever.
References:
1. Hamlin,
D.,
&
Flessa,
J.
(2018).
Parental
involvement
initiatives:
An
analysis. Educational Policy, 32(5), 697-727.
2. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., & Sandler, H. M. (1995). Parental Involvement in Children’s
Education: Why Does It Make a Difference? Teachers College Record 97 (2), 310–331.
3. Hornby, G., & Lafaele, R. ( 2011). Barriers to Parental Involvement in Education: An
Explanatory Model. Educational Review 63, 37–52.
4. Kroeger, J., & Lash, M. (2011). Asking, Listening, and Learning: Toward a more thorough
Method of Inquiry in Home–school Relations. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27 (2),
268–277.
5. Polkinghorne, D.E. (1989). Phenomenological Research Methods. In R.S. Valle, & S.
Halling (eds.), Existential-phenomenological Perspectives in Psychology (pp. 41-60).
New York: Plenum.
6. Silverman, D. (2001). Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text
and Interaction. 2nd edn, London: Sage.
7. Thompson, I., Willense, M., Mutton, T.m Burn, K., & De Brüine, E. (2018). Teacher
education and family-school partnerships in different contexts: A cross country analysis
of national teacher education frameworks across a range of European countries. Journal
of Education for Teaching. DOI 10.1080/02607476.2018.1465621
Mana Ece Tuna
Gizem Solmaz
TED University,Turkey
Elif Karslı Çalamak
University of South Carolina, USA
Martha Allexsaht-Snider
University of Georgia, USA
Refugee Children’s Educational Journeys Elicited in Multilingual Family Math
Workshops
Keywords: Family engagement; refugee families; early childhood education; inclusive
practices
With unprecedented forced displacement of people around the globe today, creating inclusive
family engagement practices that acknowledge the nuanced experiences of refugee families is
critical. In this research, we embrace previous literature positioning culturally and linguistically
diverse families’ school engagement with respect to mathematics and science from a strengthsbased critical standpoint (Authors, 2015; Civil, Planas, & Quintos, 2012; Delgado-Gaitan,
2001; Hammond, 2001; Martin, 2006). We are studying the multilingual family math
workshops component of a 2-year exploratory project MATH (blinded) focused on developing
a support mechanism for young refugee children, their families, and teachers in four different
cities in Turkey, the country with the highest number of refugees in the world. In the workshop
held in the second year of the project, we worked with 40 different families including mothers,
fathers, grandparents, and elder siblings, a majority of whom were from Syria, with a few from
Iraq. In the workshop, families, teachers, and children rotated through two different interactive
sessions: a family conversation and a mathematics activity. Drawing on the ecologies of
parental engagement framework (Calabrese Barton et al., 2004), the research question was:
What can we learn about refugee families’ and children’s experiences holistically with respect
to children’s education both in home and resettlement countries as they author spaces for
themselves in a multilingual family math workshop context? We engaged families in
educational journey mapping (EJM) (Annamma, 2016; Fine & Sirin, 2008), an authentic and
agency-based method eliciting people’s experiences over time and across contexts and their
complex positionalities. Guided by an open-ended prompt, the families created EJMs for their
children’s education through drawings and written expressions followed by further verbal
articulations. Our multimodal analysis (Jewitt, 2009) revealed that families clearly distinguish
their children’s experiences across time and space due to the forced displacement experience.
Building upon the previous distressing experiences later accompanied by resilience practices,
families shared powerful stories about how their children are showing potential not only in
academics but also in their socio-emotional daily practices within a network of support
including family members, community members, peers, and teachers.
References:
1. Authors, (2015).
2. Annamma, S. (2016). Disrupting the carceral state through education journey mapping.
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 29(9), 1210-1230.
3. Barton, A. C., Drake, C., Perez, J. G., St. Louis, K., & George, M. (2004). Ecologies of
parental engagement in urban education. Educational Researcher, 33(4), 3-12.
4. Civil, M., Planas, N., & Quintos, B. (2012). Immigrant Parents’ Perspectives on Their
Children’s Mathematics Education. In Forgasz H., Rivera F. (eds), Towards Equity in
Mathematics Education (p. 267-282). Advances in Mathematics Education. Springer,
Berlin, Heidelberg.
5. Delgado-Gaitan, C. (2001). The power of community: Mobilizing for family and
schooling. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
6. Fine, M., & Sirin, S. R. (2008). Muslim American youth: Understanding hyphenated
identities through multiple methods. NYU Press.
7. Hammond, L. (2001). Notes from California: An anthropological approach to urban
science education for language minority families. Journal of Research in Science
Teaching, 38(9), 983-999.
8. Jewitt, C. (ed). (2009). Handbook of Multimodal Analysis. London: Routledge.
9. Martin, D. (2006). Mathematics learning and participation as racialized forms of
experience: African American parents speak on the struggle for mathematics literacy.
Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 8(3), 197-229.
Eleftheriadou, Dimitra
PhD candidate, Department of Special Education,
University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece
Vlachou, Anastasia
Professor, Department of Special Education,
University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece
Effective Communities of Practice regarding the education of students with learning
disabilities in mainstream settings: an empirical study.
Keywords: Communities of Practice, inclusive education, parent-teacher relations, learning
disabilities
Communities of Practice (CoP) is a social learning theory that views learning as a process of
Community members’ engagement to a Domain of Knowledge, while interacting in a systematic
way over time using Shared Practices (Wenger, Mc Dermott & Snyder, 2004). Meaningful
interactions, collaboration and shared accountability are key ingredients not only of successful
CoP, but also of effective parent/teacher partnerships in educational settings (Epstein, 2008;
Lewis, 2017). Based on CoP theory, Laluvein (2007; 2010) proposed the ‘networking’ relation
as a successful type of relation among 10 variations of parent/teacher relations, when they
collaborate towards the inclusion of children with learning disabilities (LD) in educational CoP.
In this study, we investigated if CoP theory is applicable in school settings; we also explored
Laluvein’s ‘networking’ model in Greek mainstream schools. In light of the above, we formed
20 units of parent/teacher participants. Each unit contained the parents (mother/father) and the
teachers (general/special education) of a student with LD, receiving support in resource room
settings. CoP theoretical framework was employed as a template of analysis of the 80 semistructured interviews realized in order to identify an effective parent/teacher relationship,
according to Laluvein’s ‘networking’ model. Thematic analysis was used for analyzing the
qualitative data. The data analysis revealed that CoP theory may work as a template of analysis
in educational settings and can be used as a tool to promote more effective parent-teacher
relations. Specifically, six types of relationships were revealed in the present study, namely the
conflictual (n=2/20, 10.0%), the typical (n=2/20, 10.0%), the in-between (n=7/20, 35%), the
evolving (n=4/20, 20%), the functional (n=4/20, 20%), and the collaborative relationship
(n=1/20, 5%). According to the participants the ‘collaborative’ relation was perceived as the
most meaningful relationship and it was characterized by: a) a shared understanding of purpose,
b) parent/teacher mutual engagement in joint enterprise, c) informal, regular and meaningfully
perceived interactions with continuous flow of information between parent/teacher regarding
the child’s educational needs, d) shared practices, although no typical educational plan was
implemented, and e) equally evaluated parent/teacher contributions to the child’s education.
The results are discussed in terms of enhancing parent-teacher collaboration in an endeavor to
promote more inclusive educational settings for children with LD.
References
Epstein, J.L. (2008). Improving Family and Community Involvement in Secondary Schools.
The Education Digest, 9-12.
Laluvein, J. (2007). Parents and Teachers Talking: A ‘Community of Practice’? Relationships
between Parents and Teachers of Children with Special Educational Needs. London: Institute
of Education, University of London.
Laluvein, J. (2010). Parents, Teachers and the ‘Community of Practice’. The Qualitative
Report, 15 (1), 176-196.
Lewis, S. (2017). Communities of practice and PISA for schools: comparative learning or a
mode of educational governance?, Education policy analysis archives, 25(92), 1-25.
DOI: http://www.dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2901
Wenger, E., Mc Dermott, R. & Snyder, W.C. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A
Guide to Managing Knowledge, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, USA
Arve Fiskerstrand
Volda University College, Norway
Understanding and implementation of parental involvement in Norwegian educational
policy and practice field - and further effect on motivation and achievement in
mathematics learning
Keywords: Parental involvement, Mathematics, Education policy, Development program,
Motivation
General description
Parental involvement is crucial for the students' achievement in general and in mathematics
(Boonk, Gijselaers, Ritzen, & Brand-Gruwel, 2018; Milner-Bolotin & Marotto, 2018).
Foremost among many is high expectations from parents, regardless of e.g. the student’s grade
level and ethnicity (Neuenschwander, Vida, Garrett, & Eccles, 2007; Wilder, 2014). Is this
knowledge and research perceived and considered in Norway?
Research question
The research presented was a first step and focused on a national school development program
implemented to improve the quality of Norwegian schools, and hence the student’s mathematic
achievement and motivation from early age levels. The research aimed to examine the role of
parental involvement in the program, and gain insight into how parental involvement was
implemented in practice field during the program. The research question was: What is the
understanding and implementation of parental involvement – in a development program and
practice field in Norway?
Theoretical and methodical approach
Parental involvement can be seen both as an educational and sociological phenomenon and
relate to social constructivist learning theories. The research design is for that reason inspired
be Epstein’s (1987) influential theory of overlapping spheres, with coherence and interaction
between individuals as important elements. The first step research was carried out autumn 2018
to investigate practice in a medium-sized municipality with about 4000 children in 17
kindergartens and 13 elementary schools, and part of the national school development program.
The research implemented a survey among teachers represented all units.
Key research findings
First, parental involvement was in the development program interpreted as school-home
collaboration (Kunnskapsdepartementet, 2007). This is a limited view, and, in addition, it
seemed
further
to
be
more
and
more
under-communicated
and
downgraded
(Kunnskapsdepartementet, 2015) with subsequent weak implementation to the closer we came
to the school practice field (Siddiq et al., 2018). Second, there was varying quality of practice
and limited understanding of the importance of parental involvement in home among teachers.
As a conclusion; the research revealed an area of improvement for mathematic achievement
and motivation and opened for further research on causal relationships between parent
involvement and children learning in mathematics.
References:
1. Boonk, L., Gijselaers, H. J., Ritzen, H., & Brand-Gruwel, S. (2018). A review of the
relationship between parental involvement indicators and academic achievement.
Educational
Research
Review,
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.02.001
24,
10-30.
2. Epstein, J. L. (1987). Toward a Theory of Family-School Connections: Teacher
Practices and Parent Involvement. In K. Hurrelmann, F.-X. Kaufmann, & F. Lösel
(Eds.), Social intervention: Potential and constraints (pp. 121-136). Oxford, England:
Walter De Gruyter.
3. Kunnskapsdepartementet. (2007). Kvalitet i skolen. (Meld. St. nr. 31). Retrieved from
https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/806ed8f81bef4e03bccd67d16af76979/no/pd
fs/stm200720080031000dddpdfs.pdf
4. Kunnskapsdepartementet. (2015). Tett på realfag : nasjonal strategi for realfag i
barnehagen
og
grunnopplæringen
(2015-2019).
Retrieved
from
https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/869faa81d1d740d297776740e67e3e65/kd_r
ealfagsstrategi.pdf
5. Milner-Bolotin, M., & Marotto, C. C. F. (2018). Parental engagement in children’s
STEM education. Part I: Meta-analysis of the literature. LUMAT: International Journal
on
Math,
Science
and
Technology
Education,
6(1).
doi:https://doi.org/10.31129/lumat.6.1.292
6. Neuenschwander, M. P., Vida, M., Garrett, J. L., & Eccles, J. S. (2007). Parents'
expectations and students' achievement in two western nations. International Journal of
Behavioral Development, 31(6), 594-602.
7. Siddiq, F., Larsen, E. H., Reiling, R. B., Wollscheid, S., Vaagland, K., & Tømte, C.
(2018). Evaluering av «Tett på realfag». Status før implementeringen. Delrapport 1.
(8232703229).
Retrieved
from
https://www.udir.no/contentassets/e2ce28e790544cafb4de89a2503d4ef4/realfagsstrate
gien.pdf
8. Wilder, S. (2014). Effects of parental involvement on academic achievement: a metasynthesis.
Educational
Review,
66(3),
377-397.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.02.001
Tânia de Freitas Resende
Priscila de Oliveira Coutinho
Maria Alice Nogueira
Mona Lisa de Moraes de Freitas
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Federal University of Minas Gerais) - Faculdade
de Educação (Educational School), Brazil
When engagement becomes “colonization”: parental involvement in a Brazilian public
school and the challenges to democratic management.
Keywords: parental involvement; public school; colonization; democracy
Tânia de Freitas Resende will be presenting.
The paper discusses, from a sociological perspective, the participation of a small group of
parents, who call themselves "Family Commission", in a public school in the city of Belo
Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil). In Brazil, the most privileged socioeconomic groups attend
private schools, while public ones serve the majority of the population, predominantly, lowincome groups. However, the school where the commission was set up - enjoys a relative
prestige in the community – receiving a significant number of middle-class students, many of
them transferred from the private school, for financial reasons, difficulties in academic
achievement and/or adaptation. During a broader research on family-school relationship in the
school, it was observed that some of these families systematically accompanied the children's
school life and sought to interfere in various aspects of the school's functioning, finally creating
the “Family Commission” as an instance of direct participation at the direction of the
establishment. The Commission's work offers rich empirical material for a deeper analysis on
family involvement in school. After a systematic observation of the meetings during a semester
and conducting interviews with Commission members, we could perceive the ambiguity of the
interaction established: on the one hand, a systematic space for dialogue and partnership is
created; on the other hand, the empowerment of the Commission parents does not necessarily
mean a more profound democracy in school, as it relates more closely to the type of family
engagement called "colonization" by Van Zanten (2009). Most Commission members already
have social advantages deriving from their position in the social space (economic resources and
university degree) and gain even more power of expression and persuasion by presenting their
demands in a privileged sphere, directly to the principal without the mediation of other existing
democratic management bodies, such as a collegiate.
References:
1. CROZIER, Gill. (1999) Parental involvement: Who wants it?. International Studies in
Sociology
of
Education.
doi:10.1080/09620219900200045.
9:3,
p.
219-238,
Retrieved
February
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09620219900200045.
Copyright
21,
2019,
1999.
from
2. DESLANDES, Rollande, BARMA, Sylvie, MORIN, Lucille. (2015) Understanding
Complex Relationships between Teachers and Parents. International Journal about
Parents in Education. Copyright 2015 by European Network about Parents in
Education. Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 131-144.
3. NOGUEIRA, M. de O. NOGUEIRA, M. A. de L. G. (2017) Quando os professores
escolarizam os filhos na rede pública de ensino: da inevitabilidade à colonização.
Educação em Revista. Vol. 33, p. 1-26. Retrieved February 21, 2019, from
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S010246982017000100101&script=sci_abstract&tlng=pt.
4. SILVA, Pedro. (2003) Escola-família, uma relação armadilhada. Interculturalidade e
relações de poder. Porto: Edições Afrontamento.
5. VAN ZANTEN, Agnès. (2009) Choisirs on école: stratégies familiales et médiations
locales. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
6. VAN ZANTEN, Agnès. (2010) A escolha dos outros: julgamentos, estratégias e
segregações escolares. Educação em revista. M A de A Cunha (Trad).Vol. 26, n. 3.
vol.26, n.3, pp.409-433. ISSN 0102-4698. Retrieved February 21, 2019, from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-46982010000300021.
7. VINCENT, Carol. (1996). Parent empowerment? Collective action and inaction in
education. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. New
York,
NY.
Retrieved
February
21,
2019,
from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED398333.pdf.
8. VINCENT, Carol. (1996). Parents and teachers, Power and participation. London:
Falmer Press.
9. VINCENT, Carol. (2017). ‘The children have only got one education and you have to
make sure it's a good one’: parenting and parent–school relations in a neoliberal age.
Gender
and
Education,
29:5,
p.
541-557.
10.1080/09540253.2016.1274387.
Copyright
Retrieved
2017.
doi:
from
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1536345/1/Vincent_6-72018_%E2%80%98The%20child.pdf
Susanne Garvis, Professor, University of Gothenburg, susanne.garvis@gu.se
Heidi Harju-Luukkainen, Professor, University of Nord, heidi.k.harju-luukkainen@nord.no
Alicia R. Sadownik, Associate professor, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences,
Kindergarten Knowledge Centre for Systemic Research and Sustainable Futures, aras@hvl.no
Michelle Bramley, Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University, michelle.bramley02@ntu.ac.uk
Wendy Goff, Lecturer, Swinburne University of Technology, wgoff@swin.edu.au
Emely Knör, Master student, University of Education, Weingarten, knoeremely@stud.phweingarten.de
Ewa Lewandowska, The Maria Grzegorzewska University, ewalew@aps.edu.pl
Trish Lewis, PhD, Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury, trish.lewis@canterbury.ac.nz
Sivanes Phillipson, Professor, Swinburne University of Technology,
sphillipson@swin.edu.au
Gaye Tyler-Merrick, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University, gaye.tylermerrick@ntu.ac.uk
Tina E. Yngvesson, Master student, University of Gothenburg, gusyngti@student.gu.se
Presenting authors: Susanne Garvis, Alicja R. Sadownik, Ewa Lewandowska, Gaye TylerMerrick
Steering documents as conditions for parental involvement. How to deal with the
democratic deficit in Nordic, Anglo-Saxon and German countries?
Key words: conditions for parental involvement, ECEC, steering documents, democratic
deficit, sustainability goals
This paper identified the key ECEC policy documents across a number of European and
Australasian countries for parent and educator involvement. Reciprocal and responsive parent
and educator involvement has been shown to be a strong predictor for young children’s positive
wellbeing, overall development and learning outcomes (Borgonovi & Mont, 2012). With use
of document analysis (Bowen 2009) a systematic comparison was undertaken across eight
countries which represent different values, traditions and ways of organizing early childhood
education and, different requirements to involve parents in their ECEC
The findings indicate a wide variation of operationalization of parental involvement’s in the
ECEC sector. Nevertheless all the analyzed steering documents seem to assume a democratic
deficit (Van Laere, Van Houtte, & Vandenbroeck 2018), that is, parents across all countries are
not involved in determining goals and modalities of their involvement. The implications of this
finding will bediscussed and suggestions made on how this democratic deficit can be addressed
in terms of sustainability goals for the ECEC sector (UN 2015).
References
Borgonovi, F. and G. Montt (2012). Parental Involvement in Selected PISA Countries and
Economies, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 73, OECD Publishing,
Paris,https://doi.org/10.1787/5k990rk0jsjj-en.
Bowen, G.A. (2009). “Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method”., Qualitative
Research Journal, 9( 2), 27-40. DOI 10.3316/QRJ0902027
Janssen, J., & Vandenbroeck, M. (2018). (De)constructing parental involvement in early
childhood curricular frameworks. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal,
26(6), 813-832.
United Nations (2015). Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. New York: UN Publishing.
Van Leare, K., Van Houtte M., & Vandenbroeck, M. (2018). Would it really matter? The
democratic and caring deficit in ‘parental involvement’. European Early Childhood
Education Research Journal, 26(2), 187-200.
M.A. Gomila
B. Pascual
L. Ballester
R. Pozo
University of Balearic Islands, Spain
Social and educational training and research Group (GIFES)
The impact of the implementation of an evidence-based prevention family program at
schools on the family-school-community links.
Keywords: family-school-community links, Family Competences program, socioeducative
interventions
During the present school year the organization, implementation and evaluation of the
Universal Family Competences program (Orte et al. 2013) is taking place in 17 schools in the
Balearic Islands and Castilla-Leon. The implementation of this program has been possible with
the involvement and commitment of regional administration responsible in education,
networking with the University and third sector institutions operating at the community. An
important step in the support to the reinforcement of the familyschool- community links has
been the incorporation of a professional expert in socioeducative interventions at primary
schools (PTSC in Spanish) and secondary schools (TISOC in Spanish). This two professionals
work as mediators among the family and the school and the encouragement of family
participation at schools is one of their main functions.
One of the goals of the ongoing research is to analyse how this processes are taking place and
assess which are the procedures and relations that better promote and facilitate the development
of permanent links of collaboration among the family, the school and the community. The
hypothesis of the analysis is that the support at parenting and Family programs implemented
in schools has positive effects in family participation and family involvement in school issues
(Epstein &Salinas, 2004). The main research questions are: 1) To what extent the results
linked with the objectives of the PCF program (enhance family relations, increase positive
parenting, improving adolescent’s social skills...) improve children’s performance at school and
results in a higher involvement of the families in their children’s school development? and 2)
To what extent the whole process of organizing, implementing and evaluating the program
boost schools-families-community collaboration and helps developing new and permanent
collaboration dynamics.
This paper aims to present a description of these processes and the results of the preliminary
assessment of the program during the present school year. The methodology focus on the
analysis of three focus groups, that shall be conducted after the end of implementations: one
with the PTSC and TISOC involved in the coordination and delivery of the program, another
with the participant parents and a third one with the school board.
References:
1. Epstein J. y Salinas, K (2004). Partnering with Families and Communities. Schools as
Learning Communities, vol 61 (8) pp: 12-18
2. Orte, C.; Ballester, L.; March, M.X., (2013). El enfoque de la competencia familiar. Una
experiencia de trabajo socioeducativo con familias. Pedagogía social: revista
interuniversitaria (21) pp: 15-39.
Enrique G. Gordillo
Diandra Rendón-Quevedo
Universidad Católica San Pablo, Arequipa, Perú
Influence of parental involvement, family type, and environmental factors on Peruvian
children's academic achievement. Review of literature
Keywords: academic achivement, socio-economic status, parental involvement, family types,
Peru
Enrique G. Gordillo will be presenting.
A review of existing literature was conducted in order to find out what is already known
regarding the influence of family functioning and family characteristics on Peruvian children's
academic achievement. The goal was to learn which family factors (i.e., parental involvement,
socio-economic status, mother's education, type of parents' bond, etc.) have been found to be
associated with poor or optimum school results. Literature shows that although there has been
some increase in academic achievement in recent years among Peruvian children (Gordillo,
2013; Miranda, 2008), this is not enough for national nor international standards (Guadalupe,
Burga, Miranda, & Castillo, 2015). There is an important gap in students' results linked to
residence area, language spoken at home, socio-economic status, etc. (Cueto, 2007; Sánchez,
Escobal, & Pazos, 2018). Several factors have been identified as being associated to poor
academic results, such as having a poorly educated mother, living in a poor environment, with
poor level of opportunities to learn, having parents that are little involved in child's school
education, etc.(Balarin & Cueto, 2008; Sánchez et al., 2018). Regarding parental involvement,
Peruvian rural parents report that they cannot understand what is expected from them as how
to get involved in their children's school life. They also report having little time to get involved,
as they employ most of their time in struggling for finding economic means to survive.
However, they report that they find little to none comprehension regarding these matters from
teachers, as the latter only tend to focus on how the former just do not assist to parents-teacher
meetings (Balarin & Cueto, 2008).
References:
1. Balarin, M., & Cueto, S. (2008). La calidad de la participación de los padres de familia
y el rendimiento estudiantil en las escuelas públicas peruanas (Documento de trabajo
35).
Retrieved
from
Lima:
http://www.ninosdelmilenio.org/wp-
content/uploads/2012/10/dt35.pdf
2. Cueto, S. (2007). Las evaluaciones nacionales e internacionales de rendimiento escolar
en el Perú: balance y perspectivas Investigación, políticas y desarrollo en el Perú (pp.
405-455). Lima: Grade.
3. Gordillo, E. G. (2013). Diagnóstico de la educación peruana. Febrero del 2013.
Manuscrito sin publicar (investigación de uso interno). Dirección de Investigación.
Universidad
Católica
San
Pablo.
Arequipa.
Retrieved
from
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/267567578_Diagnstico_de_la_educacin_peru
ana._Febrero_del_2013
4. Guadalupe, C., Burga, A., Miranda, L., & Castillo, L. (2015). Brechas de equidad en la
evaluación censal de estudiantes 2007-2014: tres aproximaciones a su medición.
Persona, 47-68.
5. Miranda, L. (2008). Factores asociados al rendimiento escolar y sus implicancias para
la política educativa del Perú. Análisis de programas, procesos y resultados educativos
en el Perú: Contribuciones empíricas al debate., 11-39.
6. Sánchez, A., Escobal, J., & Pazos, N. (2018). Cambios en los niveles de vida y rol de
las políticas sociales. In S. Cueto, J. Escobal, C. Felipe, N. Pazos, M. Penny, V. Rojas,
& A. Sánchez (Eds.), ¿Qué hemos aprendido del estudio longitudinal Niños del Milenio
en el Perú? Síntesis de hallazgos (pp. 21-42). Lima: Grade.
Huifen Gu
Longhutang Experimental School of Xinbei District
Changzhou City, China
Jiacheng Li
Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Developing a Learning Neighborhood to Support the Students and Parents’ Learning in
Winter Break: A Case Study from China
Keywords: Parental involvement, community engagement, democracy and education, learning
city
Jiacheng Li will be presenting.
The parents, students and teachers are living in the certain neighborhood, and can they develop
a leaning community to support themselves?
The case school has conducted the research about winter break for several years. Focusing on
the winter break of 2019, in January 2019, the district officers, case school leaders, parents and
students, and other stakeholders renewed the Committee for Winter Break Leaning, which was
established by them in 2017. Then, more researches were conducted related to parents’ learning,
students’ involvement in community management, the local cultural activities, etc.
The paper puts forward the following research questions:
1. How is the committer operated by different stakeholders?
2. What are the outcomes of developing such committee for students, parents, community
members, and teachers?
Based on the theories of learning society, human development, and school-family-community
collaboration, the authors finished the pre-interview of students and parents in January 4, 2019.
After the winter break, the authors will adopt random interview with parents, student, teachers,
and community officers. The authors will collect the self-reports from the students and parents
too. The first author has the chances to do more onsite observation.
The followings are the expected conclusions:
The ecology of supporting the parents and students’ learning has been improved, and new
resources had been developed.
Parents and teachers are the key members, and the continuing efforts of every member are
important for the learning neighborhood.
The neighborhood had developed a learning-culture, and community democracy has been
developed.
This research will be continued, and more aspects of the learning neighborhood will be
discovered by the continuing efforts.
References:
1. Faure, E., etc. Learning to be: The world of education today and tomorrow, UNESCO,
1972.
2. Gu, H., Yin, L. & Li, J. (2015). Making homework a catalyst of teacher-parentschildren’s collaboration: A teacher research study from an elementary school in China.
International Journal about Parents in Education, 2015, Vol. 9, No. 1, 47-65.
3. Milana, M., etc. The palgrave international handbook on adult and lifelong education
and learning. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
Huifen Gu
Longhutang Experimental School of Xinbei District
Changzhou City, China
Jiacheng Li
Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education
East China Normal University, Shanghai
Developing the Novice Teacher’s Capacity of Collaborating with Parents: A Case Study
from a Chinese Primary School
Keywords: school-family collaboration, teacher development, parent involvement
Huifen Gu will be presenting.
One day in August 2018, four parents visited the case school principal on behalf of all parents,
and persuaded the principal to keep the same Banzhuern, the supervisory teacher in Chinese
school, teaching the students in the coming semester. One of the reasons is that the teacher had
a very good relationship with parents, and the parents worried about the new teacher who may
has little awareness and weak skills to work with parents in the near future.
It is true that some teachers are incapable of working with parents. With the quick development
of the case school, there are always about 50 novice teachers each year. Most of them are college
graduators but with little experience about school-family collaboration.
The paper puts forward such research questions:
1. What is the meaning for novice teachers to develop the skills of collaborating with parents?
2. How to develop the school-based in-service training project for novice teachers about schoolfamily collaboration?
This study is based on the theory of family-school collaboration, and the theory of teacher and
school development.
From August 2017 to 2019, the case school developed the training program about this topic.
The authors adopt random interview and discussions with the novice teachers, in-service
trainers and principals. Questionnaires will be applied too.
The followings are the expected conclusions:
1. The teachers’ development in the area of school-family collaboration is very much needed.
2. The school can design the in-service training program and involve the novice teachers into
the school-family collaboration practice.
3. The novice teachers benefit from the training and can get good feedback from the parents
and students.
References:
1. Farzaneh, H. & Y, Ŏ. (2015). Exploring experiences and novice teachers’ perceptions
about professional development activities. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,
199, 57-64.
2. Gu, H.; Yin, L. & Li, J. (2015). Making Homework a Catalyst of Teacher-ParentsChildren’s Collaboration: A Teacher Research Study from an Elementary School in
China. International Journal about Parents in Education, 2015, Vol. 9, No. 1, 47-65.
3. Li, J.; Li, Y.; Yao, T. & Guo, Y. (2015). Does Parent Involvement Contribute to Teacher
Development? Base on Experiment of Parent-teaching Synergic Lesson Study at a
Migrant School in Shanghai. Networks Communities and Partnership in Education:
Actors, Goals and Results, Proceedings of the First International Conference of the
Escxel Project, 30-39.
Limin Gu
Department of Education
Umeå University, Sweden
Preparing teachers for family-school cooperation: a Swedish perspective
Keywords: Swedish teacher education, preservice teachers, family-school cooperation, teacher
training program managers
International studies indicate that preservice teachers are inadequately prepared to conduct
effective family-school partnership (Epstein, 2013; Epstein & Sandra, 2006; Willemse et al.
2016). It calls for more attention in teacher training programs towards preparing teachers with
a sufficient competence for family-school cooperation (Alanko, 2018; Evans, 2013; Lehmann,
2018; Mutton, Burn & Thompson, 2018; Saltmarsh, Barr, & Chapman, 2014). This study aims
to explore and gain understanding of how the Swedish teacher education addresses the topic of
family-school cooperation. The investigation is based on teacher training program managers’
knowledge and perceptions. The following research questions are addressed: How is the topic
of family-school cooperation currently covered in teacher training programs? What are program
managers’ perceptions about the preparedness of student teachers’ competence for familyschool cooperation? How do program managers view the prospects for change in the future?
The data were collected through an online survey based on the US national survey (Epstein and
Sanders, 2006) with an adaptation to the Swedish context. The results show that the topic for
family-school collaboration is generally offered as a theme in certain courses, and is usually
integrated into school-based internship placement (VFU). The majority of respondents believe
that this competence is very important to the teacher profession, especially in three of the six
areas of involvement, namely communication, volunteering and decision-making (Epstein,
2011). More than half of the program managers do not perceive that student teachers are
prepared with sufficient competence for family-school cooperation. However, a number of
respondents do not expect that major changes in the programs will be implemented in the near
future. The teacher profession is a more complex and practical profession. Despite the
importance of the topic, it is impossible to prepare teachers with all the competences they need
in their future professional work. The most important thing for future teachers is to gain
knowledge about and acquire a positive attitude towards seeing and using parents' diverse
cultural, ethnic, socio-economic, linguistic and academic backgrounds as a resource but not an
obstacle to family-school cooperation.
References:
1. Alanko, A. (2018). Preparing pre-service teachers for home-school cooperation:
exploring Finnish teacher education programmes. Journal of Education for Teaching,
44(3), 321-332.
2. Epstein, J.L. (2011). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators
and improving schools (2nd ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview.
3. Epstein, J.L. (2013). Ready or not? Preparing future educators for school, family, and
community partnerships. Teaching Education, 24(2), 115-118.
4. Epstein, J.L. & Sandra, M.G. (2006). Prospects for change: Preparing educators for
school, family, and community partnerships. Peabody Journal of Education, 81(2), 81120.
5. Evans, M.P. (2013). Educating preservice teachers for family, school, and community
engagement. Teaching Education, 24(2), 123-133.
6. Lehmann, J. (2018). Parental involvement: an issue for Swiss primary school teacher
education. Journal of Education for Teaching, 44(3), 296-308.
7. Mutton, T., Burn, K., & Thompson, I. (2018). Preparation for family-school
partnerships within initial teacher education programmes in England. Journal of
Education for Teaching, 44(3), 278-295.
8. Saltmarsh, S., Barr, J., & Chapman, A. (2014). Preparing for parents: How Australian
teacher education is addressing the question of parent-school engagement. Asia Pacific
Journal of Education, 35, 69-84.
9. Willemse, T.M, Vloeberghs, L., de Bruine E.J., & Van Eynde, S. (2016). Preparing
teachers for family-school partnerships: a Dutch and Belgian perspective. Teaching
Education, 27(2), 212-228.
Hsiu-Zu Ho
Rong Yang
Yin Yu
Hui-Ju Pai
Sookyung Yeon
Gevirtz Graduate School of Education
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Yeana W. Lam
University of California, Education Abroad Program, USA
Parenting Role Beliefs: Multiple Perspectives from a Suburban Chinese Classroom
Keywords: parenting roles, multiple perspectives, Chinese society, parental engagement,
popular media
Hsiu-Zu Ho will be presenting.
In recent decades, research examining beliefs about gender roles among the Chinese population
has shown that parenting roles are becoming less gender-bound in contemporary Chinese
society. In the context of socioeconomic and political changes, fathers are apparently becoming
engaged in their children's lives. As depicted in contemporary Chinese media, father-children
relationships in everyday family activities are being modeled. Utilizing a sample of 34 thirdgrade students from a suburban Chinese classroom, the present study investigated parenting
role beliefs from multiple perspectives -- those of the students, as well as their parents. The
study adopts a social-constructivist theoretical framework that parenting roles are shaped by
social networks within a local culture. Quantitative analysis (including descriptive and
inferential statistics) was conducted on responses to surveys administered to both students and
their parents.
The main research questions addressed: (1) Gender differences in parenting role beliefs for both
parents and children; (2) Association between students’ academic rankings and their own
parenting role beliefs; (3) Association between perceived sociocultural influences and
respondents' parenting role beliefs; and (4) Whether the levels of parental activity engagement
are related to the child's gender.
Results of the study revealed no gender differences in parenting role beliefs for neither parents
nor students. In addition, children’s academic ranking was found to be significantly associated
with their own parenting role beliefs and with their parents’ engagement in specific activities.
Furthermore, parents’ perceived influence of watching popular reality television shows was
positively correlated with more egalitarian parental role beliefs. Parental influence, as perceived
by students, was positively correlated with students’ own parental role beliefs, such that the
more children felt their parents played an important role in their parental role beliefs, the more
egalitarian their beliefs. Interestingly, child gender differences were indeed found in parents'
activity engagement. Both fathers and mothers were found to be more involved in selected
activities when their child is a girl as compared to a boy.
References:
1. Berndt, T. J., Cheung, P. C., Lau, S., Hau, K. T., & Lew, W. J. (1993). Perceptions of
parenting in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong: Sex differences and societal
differences. Developmental Psychology, 29(1), 156-164.
2. Bonney, J. F., & Kelley, M. L. (1996). Development of a measure to examine maternal
and paternal beliefs regarding the parental role: The beliefs concerning the parental
role scale. Unpublished manuscript, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.
3. Century, A. (2013, December 5). Hit TV show resonates with fathers in China.
Retrieved from http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/hit-tv-show-resonateswith-fathers-in-china/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
4. Ho, H-Z., & Hiatt-Michael, D. B. (Eds.) (2012). Promising practices for fathers’
involvement in children’s education. Charlotte, N.C.: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
5. Oshio, T., Nozaki, K., & Kobayashi, M. (2013). Division of household labor and marital
satisfaction in China, Japan, and Korea. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 34(2),
211-223.
6. Phillipson, S., & Phillipson, S. N. (2007). Academic expectations, belief of ability, and
involvement by parents as predictors of child achievement: A cross-cultural comparison.
Educational Psychology, 27(3), 329-348.
7. Tu, S. H., & Liao, P. S. (2005). Gender differences in gender-role attitudes in Taiwan
and Coastal China. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 36(4), 545-566.
8. Whyte, M. K. (2005). Continuity and change in urban Chinese family life. China
Journal, 53, 9-33.
9. Xu, Q., & Yeung, W. J. (2013). Hoping for a phoenix: Shanghai fathers and their
daughters. Journal of Family Issues, 34(2), 184-209.
10. Zuo, J., & Bian, Y. (2001). Gendered resources, division of housework, and perceived
fairness: A case in urban China. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63, 1122-1133.
Hsiu-Zu Ho
Faculty of Education
East China Normal University, East China
The Impact of Course Bank on Children's Education by Improving Parents'Scientific
Literacy. Take a 50-year-old community-family cooperation in Shanghai as an example
Scientific literacy refers to the understanding of scientific knowledge, scientific research
processes and methods, and the impact of science and technology on society and people. Parents
are the first teachers of children. Improving parents' scientific literacy has great influence on
children: 1. Stimulating children's scientific curiosity; 2. Developing children's scientific
research consciousness and mastering scientific research methods from an early age; 3. Being
interested in exploring the science around them, learning to express scientific knowledge and
trying to change the world around them with scientific knowledge. The development of a child's
literacy depends on the environment he was exposed to when he was young.
Community: Built in the 1960s, with a history of more than half a century, it is close to
University. Community development is a microcosm of Shanghai. From the time of
construction, teachers were the main residents, to the present, 1/3 of them are teachers, 1/3 of
them are university tenants, and 1/3 of them are migrants.
Sample: 10 families with 5-7-year-old children living abroad spent their childhood in
Shanghai. Because their schools are scattered, they can only use the help of the community.
The problems of these families: 1. The cost of living is high, and the cost of education is high.
2. Lack of discipline for children.3. Parents are not interested in learning and improving their
scientific literacy.
Cooperation with the community: through the Wechat platform, popularize and publicize
the score of parents'scientific literacy course, exchange one lesson for their children's
knowledge, change one volunteer to guide their children's learning, and change one time for
parents to take their children to visit the science laboratory and Library of the University.
Jiale Huang
East China normal university, EastChina
Research on the Relation between Parent Participation, Self-education Expectation and
Academic Achievement Based on Structural Equation Model——A Case of China
Keywords: Parental Educational Participation; Academic Achievement; Self-educational
Expectations; Chinese student
At present, Parental involvement how affected students’ academic achievement is still
controversial and concerned. In the context of Chinese education and culture, Chinese parents'
educational participation has its own characteristics, and even some have a certain degree of
utilitarianism and blindness (such as sending children to attend training classes and remedial
classes, etc.). This paper attempts to explore the mechanism of interaction between parental
involvement, self-educational expectations, and academic achievement, and explores how the
different dimensions of parental involvement influences children's self-educational
expectations and academic achievement.
This paper used the China Education Following Survey(CEFS) 2013-2014 baseline data
to analyze the impact of parents' participation in school education on students' academic
achievement in the context of China's education system, about 20,000 students.And then the
Bootstrap method is used to establish a structural equation model(SEM) to test the intermediate
effect between self-education expectation and parental involvement and academic achievement.
Parental involvement in this study included included parent-child communication, supervision
(jobs, school performance, recreational activities, etc.), activities with children (reading,
visiting museums, etc.) and helping with homework. Academic achievement adopts
standardized scores of three grades of students' Chinese , mathematics and foreign language.
Self-educational expectation refers to the level of education that students want to achieve.
This paper found parental involvement can significantly predict students' self-educational
expectations (β= 0.075, p < 0.000); self-education expectations can significantly predict
academic achievement (β = 0.371, p < 0.000). The total indirect effect of self-education
expectation between parental involvement and academic achievement is 0.028 (p<0.000),
confidence interval is 0.016-0.039, not contain zero, so the mediation effect is significant.
Parental involvement affects students' self-educational expectations, which affects their
academic achievement.
References:
1. Coleman, James S . Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital[J]. American
Journal of Sociology, 1988, 94:S95-S120.
2. Flouri, E., & Buchanan, A. Early Father's and Mother's Involvement and Child's Later
Educational Outcomes [J]. British Journal of EducationalPsychology,2004, 74(2)
:141-153.
3. Boonk L , Gijselaers H J M , Ritzen H , et al. A review of the relationship between
parental involvement indicators and academic achievement[J]. Educational Research
Review, 2018, 24.
4. Campbell R T . Status Attainment Research: End of the Beginning or Beginning of the
End?[J]. Sociology of Education, 1983, 56(1):47-62.
Dorota Jaworska
Institute of Education, University of Gdańsk, Poland
Development of Immigrant Parents School Engagement in the perspective of Immigrant
Integration City Policy in Gdańsk
Keywords: migrant parents, urban integration policy, parents’ empowerment
The political context of the research was the process of creating and implementing a city
migration policy - Immigrant Integration Model in Gdansk. This is the result of work of the
intersectoral and interdisciplinary team that President Paweł Adamowicz set up in May 2015.
It included over 140 people representing over 80 various entities. The goal of the team's work
was to prepare a strategy for the integration new residents of the city. Despite the fact that the
majority of decisions related to the education of migrant pupils in Polish schools are governed
by central regulations (the Education Act and ordinances of the minister of education dedicated
to migrant students), the city self-government actively creates urban social policy in the area of
migration that strengthens and complements modest central solutions.
Objectives
The aim of the study is to describe the process of development the urban social policy in the
aspect of immigrant parents school engagement.
The course of the study
The research was based on focus interviews conducted in: 1. groups of teachers, educators and
people managing educational institutions, 2. self-study group of migrant students' teachers, and
3. group of migrant parents.
Results
In the process of an extremely rapid increase the number of migrant pupils in Gdansk schools
(2016 - 154, 2018 - 500), three stages in the schools approach to the presence and involvement
of migrant parents in their children's education can be described.
The first stage is characterized by the absence and omission of parents' presence, helplessness
and lack of initiative against the language barrier. A lack of cognitive and empathetic
component in the understanding of the psychological and socio-cultural situation of migrant
families resulting in "invisibility" of migrant parents in schools.
The second stage, associated with the increase in the number of migrant students migrating in
schools and the increase the activity of their parents as agents of children's educational success,
can be called the stage of "breaking the critical mass". The parents' potential and their abilities
were realized, and the practices of active inclusion of parents in the educational and social life
of the school were launched. The processes of including migrant parents into education take
place at various levels of school organization.
The third stage of parents' "empowerment" is related to the implementation the culturally
responsive instruments of opening schools to migrant parents, through systematic support of
school staff by increasing intercultural competence of school managers and school teams.
The implementation of the Immigrant Integration Model results in the development of support
areas and the inclusion of migrant parents, in particular:
•
supporting them as parents of Polish school students,
•
development of intercultural assistants in Gdansk schools with the participation of
migrant parents,
•
development and diverse representation of migrant parents in school life,
•
participation of migrant parents in creating an effective school-parents information and
communication system.
Li Jiacheng
Shanghai Lifelong Education Research Institute
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Li Wenshu
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Other members of the research project: YangYang, Xu Wenyue, Lv keyi, Li Yan, Qin Hongmei,
Qin Yan.
The effectiveness, dilemma and development of home-school cooperation in school safety
education. An experimental research in China
Keywords: Home-School Cooperation; Parental involvement; safety education;
Research Background
Sichuan is a province with frequent earthquakes, mudslides and mountain landslides in
China. Shanghai is a developed city in China, it is important to prevent fire and road-traffic
safety. Therefore, student safety education is very worthy of attention. In April 2016, East China
Normal University and Save the Children collaborated to form a team of home-school
cooperative research project, cooperated with 10 schools in Ya’an City of Sichuan and Minhang
District of Shanghai, and provided them with resources for two years, including teacher
training, disaster evacuation drills, expert guidance, first aid kits, and emergency supplies.
Safety education is one way of parental involvement. Is parental participation effective
and helpful in student safety education? How to improve students’ safety knowledge and ability
in home-school cooperation?
Methodological Design
This research project used the questionnaires and interviewed a random sample of 10
schools in the initial stage of the project in 2016 and the end of the project in 2018. In 2016, a
total of 1,804 student questionnaires, 1513 parent questionnaires, and 115 teacher
questionnaires were issued. In 2018, a total of 1,607 student questionnaires, 912 parent
questionnaires, and 133 teacher questionnaires were issued; In 2016, a total of 40 students, 51
parents, 56 teachers, 16 principals, and administrative staff were interviewed; the number of
interviews in 2018 was similar to that in 2016.
Research findings
After analyzing the questionnaires and interviews, we found out that home-school
cooperation is the driving force for safety education. In the case of providing the same number
of resources for each school, the more parents participated in school safety education activities,
the more students have learned safety knowledge and abilities. Meanwhile, the competence of
teachers and the degree of their responsibilities also have certain impacts on students.
School safety education needs diversified resource and home-school cooperation to
achieve good results. It is necessary to pay attention to scientific research on safety education
and management so that schools can explore research and sustainable development
independently.
References:
1. Priscilla T. Apronti; Saito Osamu.,(2015).Education for Disaster Risk Reduction
(DRR): Linking Theory with Practice in Ghana’s Basic Schools. Sustainability ,
2008,9160.
2. Li Weitao., (2018). Strategic Thinking on China's Basic Education towards 2035, China
Education Journal, 9,7-13 (in Chinese)
Kirsten Johansen Horrigmo
Jorunn H. Midtsundstad
University of Agder
How does the connections between families, school and local society facilitate inclusion?
Keywords: Location, commuting, ‘local ties of communities’, city region, inclusion
General description: Project 'School-In' is an innovative research project funded by the
Norwegian Research Council. It is a partnership between five municipalities in a city region of
Southern Norway and the University of Agder. Research findings show that expectations in the
local community are decisive for inclusion (Midtsundstad & Langfeldt, 2018). The project aims
to explore how school organizations can benefit from changing the interplay between school
and local society (Horrigmo, 2015; Göransson & Nilholm, 2014).
The research question for this presentation is: What role does the interplay between location,
commuting, and ‘local ties of communities’ have on schools conditions for inclusion?
We investigated and explored the consequences of schools’ geographical location (Soja, 2010;
Beach et al. 2017; 2019) in the city region by two cases and argue that the interplay between
the three dimensions;1) location, 2) in- and out –commuting, and 3) ‘local ties of communities’,
are differently constructed. By adapting to local constructed characteristics, schools can
develop support for inclusion to be democratic and to serve the purpose of social and cultural
growth (Corbett & White, 2014).
We conducted a comparative case study of two different places A and B, that are both located
in the outskirts of the city region, have similar size and equal socioeconomic status. The
comparison is based on findings from focus groups discussions with school staff, structured
group interview with students and interviews with local informants, questionnaires, documents
and local observations (Andersen, 2013).
The research findings show that in place A there are fewer demographic changes and higher
stability than in place B. Place A has out-commuting, but B has both in- and out- commuting
and can be described as a more ‘porous community’ which is reinforced by the youth's ‘leisure
commuting and teachers' in-commuting. Place A is constructed by strong internal ties and has
a profound collective understanding. These findings illustrate the school’s different potential
for creating an inclusive learning environment and will be further discussed.
References:
1. Andersen, S. S. (2013). Casestudier. Forskningsstrategi, generaliseringer og
forklaring.
2. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget
3. Beach, D (2017). Whose justice is this! Capitalism, class and education justice and
inclusion in the Nordic countries: race, space and class history. Educational Review, 69,
5, 620-637
4. Beach, D., Johansson, M., Öhrn, E.,Rönnlund, M., Rosvall, P-Å (2019). Rurality and
education relations: Metro-centricity and local values in rural communities and rural
schools. European Educational Research Journal, 18, 1, 19-33.
5. Corbett, M. and White, S. (2014) Introduction: Why put the ‘rural’ in research? In
White, S. & Corbett, M. (Ed) Doing educational research in rural settings.
Methodological issues, international perspectives, and practical solutions. New York:
Routledge.
6. Göransson, K. & Nilholm, C. (2014) Conceptual diversities and empirical shortcomings
– a critical analysis of research on inclusive education, European Journal of Special
Needs Education, 29, 265-280, DOI: 10.1080/08856257.2014.933545
7. Horrigmo, K.J. (2015). Hvordan kan stedet ha betydning for skoleresultater? [How Can
Place Influence School Results?] In G. Langfeldt (Ed.), Skolens kvalitet skapes lokalt.
Presententasjon av funn fra forskningsprosjektet ‘Lærende Regioner’, p.144-160.
Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.
8. Midtsundstad, J. H. & Langfeldt, G. (2018). The school Programme: A Key Link
between
9. Contextual Influence and School Development. Scandinavian Journal of Educational
research, pubished online. 1-11
10. Soja, E. W. (2010). Seeking Spatial Justice. University Minnesota press.
Kristín Jónsdóttir
School of Education, University of Iceland, Iceland
Effects of GDPR on parental involvement. A study of Icelandic compulsory schools
Keywords: GDPR, Parental involvement, Compulsory schools, GDPR influence on school
practices, GDPR influence on parental involvement
The implementation of the European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation,
2016/679) and its embodiment in Icelandic Act no. 90/2018 have raised many questions in
Icelandic compulsory schools. That data protection is necessary is undisputed as it means
privacy and respect, and freedom from manipulation. But at first glance, GDPR seems to be
counteracting prevailing policies for opening up the country’s compulsory schools and
strengthening their roles within their communities. In Iceland and in other Nordic countries,
legislation and policy documents have presented an increased emphasis on the home–school
relationship, and steps have been taken in recent years to give parents a more significant
position in the schools (Bæck, 2009; Jónsdóttir & Björnsdóttir, 2014; Kristoffersson, Gu &
Zhang, 2013).
The main aim of this study is to reveal how GDPR affects school practices and influences
parental involvement. This paper concerns the signs of changes on schools’ official websites
and use of social media, and parents and school staffs’ impressions of GDPR during its first
year in effect. Data were gathered in spring 2019 in four case studies in compulsory schools.
The case studies included analyses of the schools online, i.e. websites and contributions to
social media, and two semi-structured interviews: one with a school leader and a teacher, and
one with two parents who were actively participating in their child’s school. The findings
include several signs of GDPR affecting parents’ possibilities to follow their child’s studies, for
example, by receiving photos. The changes in schools’ uses of social media are confirmed, and
GDPR’s implementation has raised several issues related to insecurity amongst school staff.
References:
1. Bæck, U.-D. K. (2009). From a distance – How Norwegian parents experience their
encounters with school. International Journal of Educational Research, 48, 342–351.
2. Jónsdóttir,
K.,
& Björnsdóttir,
A.
(2014). Foreldrasamstarf [Home–school
relationships]. In G. G. Óskarsdóttir (Ed.), Starfshættir í grunnskólum við upphaf 21.
aldar [Teaching and learning in Icelandic compulsory schools at the beginning of the
21st century] (pp. 197–216). Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan.
3. Kristoffersson, M., Gu, L., & Zhang, Y. (2013). Home-school collaboration in Sweden
and China. US–China Education Review B, 3(3), 188–201. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED541823.pdf
4. Lög um persónuvernd og vinnslu persónuupplýsinga, nr. 90/2018 [Laws on GDPR, no
90/2018].
5. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April
2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data
and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data
Protection Regulation). Retrieved from http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj
Marta Jurczyk
University of Gdańsk, Poland
Supporting sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities - dimensions of being a
participating parent
Keywords: participating parents, disability, sexuality, supporting, people with intellectual
disabilities
Sexuality is constructed as a sphere available only to healthy and fully efficient people. That
excludes and marginalizes people with disabilities (both intellectual and manual). Attitudes
described in literature touching upon sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities are
primarily concepts based on the discourse of tolerating, improving, eliminating and accepting.
Tolerance is perceived through the prism of treating the disabled person only as a child who
will never be granted status equal to the one of an adult. This construct is often strengthened by
actions undertaken by parents who are fully aware of their children’s sexuality or with a
conscious lack of support for sexual development and thus blocking the opportunities for their
development.
The research problem presented in the following speech concerns dimensions of "being" a
participating parent in the field of supporting the sexuality of adult children with intellectual
disabilities. The conducted research is based on the methodological matrix of multi-sited
ethnography, taking into account the multidimensional perception of functioning of people with
intellectual disabilities, their sexuality, and kinds of support their parents offer them.
What support do parents offer to their adult children with intellectual disabilities? How do they
define and categorize sexuality of their children? What strategies do they consider to be the
most effective? What practices evolve and how they evaluate the results of their activities?
These questions, based on the data obtained from the research, will set the base for further
considerations that are based on theoretical and empirical experiences of parents' involvement
in the processes of supporting sexuality of people with intellectual disability, as well as raised
social issues of constructing their subjectivity, independence and emancipation.
References:
1. Marcus G.E., Ethnography in/of the world system: The emergence of multi-sited
ethnography, Annual Review of Anthropology, 1995
2. Marcus G.E., What Is At Stake–And Is Not–In The Idea And Practice Of Multi-Sited
Ethnography, Canberra Anthropology, 2010
3. Cuskelly, M.; Bryde, R., Attitudes towards the sexuality of adults with an intellectual
disability: parents, support staff, and a community sample, Journal of Intellectual &
Developmental Disability. Sep2004, Vol. 29 Issue 3
4. Evans, D. S.; McGuire, B. E.; Healy, E.; Carley, S, Sexuality and personal relationships
for people with an intellectual disability. Part II: staff and family carer perspectives,
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. Nov2009, Vol. 53 Issue 11
5. Lofgren-Martenson L., ‘‘Hip to be Crip?’’ About Crip Theory, Sexuality and People
with Intellectual Disabilities [w:] Sexuality&Disability 31(4), 2013
K. Kayon Morgan
University of Denver, United States of America, USA
“We’re supposed to be a team”. Co-constructing family engagement in schools to prepare
students for postsecondary readiness
Keywords: Family engagement, partnership, 21st century, co-constructed
Families desire a relationship with schools that acknowledged them as part of the
educational process for their children. A common refrain from families is that they have a strong
desire to see their students succeed but want to share this responsibility with the schools.
Because families have these desires to be partners, and strong home-school relationships matter,
family engagement needs to be developed that also targets elevating the expectations and
commitment of the various stakeholders involved in the educational process (Froiland, Peterson
& Davison, 2013; Weiss, Caspe & Lopez, 2006). Family engagement has sustained effects on
children as early as the elementary level (Toldson & Lemmons, 2013). Therefore, families can
have a positive impact on academic achievement by preserving a strong hope that their children
will flourish in their postsecondary endeavors (Froiland et al., 2013). However, schools’
perception of family engagement presents barriers to valuing families as key stakeholders in
the preparation of students for the 21st century. As the purpose of this research was to examine
family engagement in preparing students for the 21st century, the key question discussed is,
“What are the perceptions of various stakeholders regarding family engagement in preparing
students for the future?”
Through the lens of the existing literature and a new theoretical framework, the
researcher explored the perspectives of family engagement and how schools can pursue a coconstructed partnership. This research used a case study design. Through semi-structured
interviews with families, teachers, principals, and administrators, and through observations, and
document review, the results of the study revealed that families desired deeply to work as a
team in the education of their children all the way through college and beyond. However, family
engagement as a partnership was perceived differently by teachers, and other administrators.
This study is significant in that it highlights the opportunities for schools to develop coconstructed relationships leading to a culture of family engagement that continues from birth
all the way through working adults. However, the multiple forms in which they have hopes and
dreams, and in which they support and promote education from preschool and beyond must be
considered.
References:
1. Froiland, J. M., Peterson, A., & Davison, M. L. (2013). The long-term effects of early
parent involvement and parent expectation in the USA. School Psychology
International, 34(1), 33-50.
2. Toldson, I., & Lemmons, B. (2013). Social demographics, the school environment, and
parenting practices associated with parents’ participation in schools and academic
success among Black, Hispanic, and White Students. Journal of Human Behavior in the
Social Environment, 23(2), 237-255.
3. Weiss, H., Caspe, M., & Lopez, M. E. (2006). Family involvement in early childhood
education. Cambridge: MA: Harvard Family Research Project. Retrieved from
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/search/site/hfrp%20projects%20fine%20resources%20res
earch%20earlychildhood
Alex Kendall
Caroline Montgomery
Mary-Rose Puttick
Louise Wheatcroft
Dave Harte
Birmingham City University
Andreas Koskeris
Evangelia Boufardea
Catherine Christodoulopoulou
Institouto Technologias Ypologistonkai Ekdoseon Diofantos
Christian Reimers
Laura Raucher
Bildung Online
Khursedai Homid
Lisa Sperling
Thomas Köhler
Technische Universität Dresden
Anna Zakou
Ellinogermaniki Agogi
Eszter Salamon
Luca László
Brigitte Haider
Parents International
Opening School Doors: Engaging migrant parents using social media and technology
Keywords: digital, migration, inclusion, lifelong learning
Eszter Salamon will be preseting.
A partnership of six organisations from five European countries (Germany, UK, Greece,
Austria and Belgium) in the Open School Doors project is aiming at reinforcing teachers’
awareness, motivation, knowledge and skills that will enable them to strengthen parents’ roles
in schooling with special focus on parents with migrant background, using social media
properly as one of the best parent engagement strategies.
Based on desk research carried out via a literature review and analysis of impactful practices, a
training framework has been designed, tailored to teachers learning profile and needs,
equipping them with all the attitudes, values, knowledge, skills and life-long learning
competences to enable them support and sustain parental engagement in school communities.
Covering the topics of parental engagement basics, establishing a common vision and values,
working effectively with newly arrived families, spaces and places, literacies and digital
literacies, and communities and culture, the training provides comprehensive guidance to
teachers on promoting and encouraging effective cooperation between parents and teachers.
Pilot training seminars have taken place across the partnership (both F2F & online) addressing
parents, teachers, stakeholders, policy makers in a two phases implementation process and
refining the training in between the two.
This paper is introducing the methodology and results of the preliminary research done to
inform the design of the course and summarise the pre and post phase research done with
training participants.
References:
1. Bhopal, K., Gundara, J., Jones, C., & Owen, C. (2000). Working Towards Inclusive
Education: Aspects of Good Practice. London: Crown Copyright.
2. Blickenstorfer, R. 2009. Strategien der Zusammenarbeit. In: Fürstenau, S./ Gomolla, M.
(Hrsg.): Migration und schulischer Wandel: Elternbeteiligung. Wiesbaden: Verlag für
Sozialwissenschaften, S. 69-87.
3. Campbell, C. (2011) How to involve hard-to-reach parents: encouraging meaningful
parental involvement with schools National College for School Leadership: London
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/340369/ho
w-to-involve-hard-to-reach-parents-full-report.pdf, last checked on the 09.02.2018
4. Crozier, G., & Davies, J. (2007). Hard to reach parents or hard to reach schools? A
discussion of home-school relations, with particular reference to Bangladeshi and Pakistani
parents. British Education Research Journal , 33 (3), 295-313.
5. Cummins, J. (2003). Challenging the construction of difference as deficit: Where are
identity, intellect, imagination, and power in the new regime of truth. Pedagogies of
difference: Rethinking education for social change, 41-60.
6. Field, S., M. Kuczera and B. Pont (2007), No More Failures: Ten Steps to Equity in
Education, OECD, Paris.
7. Fürstenau, Sara & Gomolla, Mechthild (Hrsg.) (2009): Migration und schulischer Wandel:
Elternbeteiligung. Lehrbuch. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag Sozialwissenschaften.
8. Goodall. J. S., (2016) Technology and school-home communication in International Journal
of Pedagogies and Learning Vol 11 no 2 118-131
9. Hope, J. (2011). New insights into family learning for refugees: bonding, bridging and
building transcultural capital. Literacy , 45 (2), 91-97.
10. Mirca, M, Miller, D. (2012) Polymedia: Towards a new theory of digital media in
interpersonal communication in International Journal of Cultural Studies 16 (2) 169–187
11. Peltzer-Karpf, A., V. Wurnig, B. Schwab, M. Griessler, R. Akkus, K. Lederwasch, D.
Piwonka, T. Blazevic, K., Brizic (2006), “A kuci sprecham Deutsch. Sprachstandserhebung
in Multikulturellen Vorschulklassen: Bilingualer Spracherwerb in der Migration”,
Psycholinguistische Langzeitstudie (1999-2003) im Auftrag des BMBWK, Vienna.
12. Pena, D. C. (2000). Parent involvement: Influencing factors and implications. The Journal
of Educational Research, 94(1), 42-54.
13. Rah. Y., Choi, S., Nguyễn, T. (2009) Building bridges between refugee parents and schools,
International Journal of Leadership in Education,12:4, 347-365,
14. Sacher, W. 2012. Elternarbeit mit Migranten. In: Matzner, M. (Hrsg.): Handbuch Migration
und Bildung. Weinheim: Beltz, S.301-314.
15. Schwaiger, Marika; Neumann, Ursula (2010): Regionale Bildungsgemeinschaften.
Gutachten zur interkulturellen Elternbeteiligung der RAA. Hamburg
16. Schweighofer, B. (2016): Elternarbeit mit Migrant/innen. In: ÖIF-Dossier n°37, Wien.
17. Selwyn, N., Banaji, J., Hadjithoma-Garstka, C., Clark, W., (2011) “Providing a platform
for parents? Exploring the nature of parental engagement with school Learning Platforms”
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 27: 314–323
18. Turney, K., & Kao, G. (2009). Barriers to school involvement: Are immigrant parents
disadvantaged? The Journal of Educational Research, 102(4), 257-271.
19. Vollmer, S. (2018) Syrian newcomers and their digital literacy practices Language issues
28 (2), 66-72.
Chrysa Keung
Centre for University & School Partnership, Faculty of Education
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Alan Cheung
Department of Educational Administration & Policy, Faculty of Education
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Promoting effective play-based learning in kindergartens: A holistic approach
Keywords Play-based learning, holistic support model, pedagogical practices, whole-child
development, mixed study
Abstract
While the benefits of play for young children have been widely recognized (e.g. Rubin, Fein
and Vandenberg 1983; Saracho, 2012; Vygotsky, 1966), much less attention has been paid to
characterize effective play-based learning by investigating the influences of teachers, families
and kindergartens (Pyle, DeLuca & Danniels 2017). This study adopted the triangle of factors
model (Grimmer, 2018) as conceptual framework to illustrate how the influences as sources of
support that facilitate the play-based learning implementation. This study is contextualized with
an emphasis on taking a holistic approach to examine the effectiveness of implementation.
This study employed mixed-method to collect both quantitative and qualitative data.
Combing two sets of data from teacher questionnaires and focus group interviews, findings can
be useful to explore the effectiveness factors and serve the triangulation purpose. There are 50
Hong Kong kindergartens participated in a University and School Partnership project between
2015 and 2017 for implementing play-based curriculum with professional team of the
University. A total of 286 questionnaires were collected and nine focus groups were conducted
in depth following the survey. The questionnaire consisted of 28 items measuring the aspects
of families, teachers, kindergarten factors contributing to the implementation of effective playbased learning. In each focus group, we asked six major questions and a series of follow-up
questions where necessary. The qualitative study attempted to collect kindergarten teachers’
perceptions regarding (1) What do you consider upon practicing play-based learning? And (2)
How do you think kindergartens and parents can support teachers in implementing play-based
learning?
Results of this study presented a holistic support model to identify facilitating and
hindering factors regard to three aspects: teachers’ enactment of play pedagogy, school
collaborative culture and home-school cooperation. The proposed model suggests the
confounding effects were making a difference to teachers’ articulation of play pedagogy,
schools’ reflective and collaborative culture and parental involvement in play. All these are
conducive to effective implementation. The holistic support model can extend our
understandings which provide practitioners and researchers with a systematic perspective of
how to develop effective play-based practices in kindergartens and considerations of potential
challenges come with implementation.
References:
1. Grimmer, T. (2018). School readiness and the characteristics of effective learning: The
essential guide for early years practitioners. London: Jessica Kingsley.
2. Pyle, A., DeLuca, C., & Danniels, E. (2017). A scoping review of research on playbased pedagogies in kindergarten. Review of Education, 5(3), 311-351.
3. Rubin, K. H., Fein, G. G., & Vandenbery, B. (1983). Play. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.),
Handbook of child psychology: Socialization, personality, and social development (pp.
693-774). New York: Wiley.
4. Saracho, O. N. (2012). Developmental theories of play. In O. N. Saracho (Ed.), An
integrated play-based curriculum for young children (pp. 29-66). New York:
Routledge.
5. Vygotsky, L. S. (1966). Play and its role in the mental development of the child. Soviet
Psychology, 12, 62-76.
Lyu Keyi
Lyu Cong
Department of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Li Jiacheng
Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education, Shanghai, China
Parental Involvement Contributes on Family Cultural Capital. Based on Taoyuan Private
Primary School in J District in Shanghai
Keywords: parental involvement; family cultural capital; migrant children
Under the urbanization, the development problem of the migrant in cities become an inevitable
topic in China today. Many studies reveal that the family cultural capital of the migrant works
is insufficient, which exerts passive effects on the development of their children. The study
focuses on exploring the relationship between parental involvement and family cultural capital
(FCC). The authors selected Taoyuan migrant as a case which has conducted home-school
reformation for more than two years, using the methods of interview, questionnaire and
observation to get two mains findings. First, the model of parental involvement has changed
from self-elimination to active-participation, in which process that Taoyuan played a very
important role. Besides, the active-participation made contributions on: (1) static FCC,
including the books quality and quantity, parents’ education knowledge, fathers’ educational
roles, the recognition and confidence in the rural cultural capital; and (2) operational FCC,
including the family educational behavior, language ability and family cultural life.
References:
1. Bourdieu, P. , & Passeron, J. C. . (1977). Reproduction in education, society and
culture. British Journal of Sociology, 30(1), 75-82.
2. Dimaggio, P. . (1982). Cultural capital and school success: the impact of status
culture participation on the grades of u.s. high school students. American
Sociological Review, 47(2), 189-201.
3. Dumais, S. A. . (2002). Cultural capital, gender, and school success: the role of
habitus. Sociology of Education, 75(1), 44-68.
4. Epstein, J. L. , & Sheldon, S. B. . (2002). Present and accounted for: improving
student attendance through family and community involvement. Journal of
Educational Research, 95(5), 308-318.
5. Erickson, F. , & Mohatt, G. . (1977). The social organization of participation
structures in two classrooms of Indian students. American Indian Education, 46.
6. Gaddis, S. M. . (2013). The influence of habitus in the relationship between cultural
capital and academic achievement. Social Science Research, 42(1), 1-13.
7. Lareau, A. , & Weininger, E. B. . (2003). Cultural capital in educational research: a
critical assessment. Theory & Society, 32(5/6), 567-606.
8. Lareau, A. . (1987). Social class differences in family-school relationships: the
importance of cultural capital. Sociology of Education, 60(2), 73-85.
9. Li J.(2016.).Does Parental Involvement Contribute to Teacher Development? [M]//
Networks,Communities and Partnerships in Education: actors, goals and results.
10. Sui-Chu HO ( 2008 ) , Building Trust and Collaboration in Home-School
Partnership, Education Journal , 36(1–2), 1–22
11. Tramonte, L. , & Willms, J. D. . (2010). Cultural capital and its effects on education
outcomes ☆. Economics of Education Review, 29(2), 200-213.
Kathy Kikis-Papadakis
Fotini Haimala
Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas
Aristides Protopsaltis
Antonia Schorer
Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen Nuernberg
Nikolina Nikolova
Sofiiski Universitet Sveti Kliment Ohridski
Olga Firssova
Open Universiteir Nederland
Mario Barajas
Universitat De Barcelona
Eszter Salamon
Parents International
Overcoming the impact of parental gender bias and parents’ previous experiences on
STEM teaching
Keywords: gender bias, STEM, teacher competences
Eszter Salamon will be presenting.
This paper is aiming at summarising results of the needs analysis carried out in the form of desk
research and focus groups on national and European levels, introducing the training modules
developed for parent-related topics and showing results of these modules’ piloting in the course
of the ELITe project on STEM teacher competence development. In the needs analysis phase
one of the aims was to explore the areas teachers need professional development support at, in
relation to working with parents.
Although the project introduced a national approach providing for local school system
specificities (and thus resulted in a diverse training curriculum), the parent-related topics of
gender bias and parents’ attitudes based on previous experiences with STEM have been
identified as common in all participating countries (Greece, Germany, the Netherlands and
Bulgaria). The thematic areas of supporting teachers in overcoming the impact of parental
gender bias and parents’ previous (negative) experiences with their own STEM education on
their children’s learning outcomes and attitudes were developed for fostering parental
engagement and thus parents gaining ownership over children’s learning, based on Epstein’s
partnership approach and the Successful Educational Action framework developed by Flecha
et al.
The ELITe Strategic Partnership was set up to support teachers’ professional learning for
competence development, targeting specifically in-service educators in the STEM domain.
It has addressed the following objectives:
− To deepen understandings on the requirements for STEM teachers’ competence
development at national levels, as conceptualized and expressed by policy makers,
policy mediators and practitioners – including parental engagement;
− To develop, deploy and evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative, inquiry-based
learning methodology for STEM teachers’ flexible and reflective professional
development for competence development in fields directly related to the STEM
domain and making STEM teaching more effective eg. by parental engagement;
− To support the uptake of the proposed innovative professional learning methodology by
teacher training curriculum stakeholders, for better alignment of policy envisions
relating STEM education to actual practice.
The inquiry-based modules have been piloted with pre-service and in-service teachers,
providers of non-formal STEM learning (namely Children’s Universities) and groups of parent
leaders. The paper is primarily showing outcomes of the research phase of piloting activities,
but also highlights some of the interventions implemented.
References:
1. Flecha, R. (Ed) (2015) Successful Educational Actions for Inclusion and Social
Cohesion in Europe, Springer
2. L. Chen and V. Menon at al. (2018) Positive Attitude Toward Math Supports Early
Academic
Success:
Behavioral
Evidence
and
Neurocognitive
Mechanisms,
Psychological Science 2018, Vol. 29(3) 390–402
3. Liyanage Devangi H. Perera (2014) Parents' Attitudes Towards Science and their
Children's Science Achievement, International Journal of Science Education, 36:18,
3021-3041
4. Goodall, J. (2018) Narrowing the Achievement Gap, Taylor&Francis
5. Gunderson, E.A., Ramirez, G., Levine, S.C. et al. Sex Roles (2012) The Role of Parents
and Teachers in the Development of Gender-Related Math Attitudes Springer Science
6. Gunderson, E.A., Ramirez, G., Levine, S.C. et al. Sex Roles (2012) New Directions for
Research on the Role of Parents and Teachers in the Development of Gender-Related
Math Attitudes: Response to Commentaries, Springer Science
7. Tenenbaum, Harriet R.,Leaper, Campbell (2003) Parent-child conversations about
science: The socialization of gender inequities? Developmental Psychology
Mehtap Kirmaci
Martha Allexsaht-Snider
University of Georgia, USA
A Dialogic Science Learning Community with Families and Teachers: “I was Always
Afraid of Doing Something Wrong”
Keywords: community-based science learning program, dialogic education, family-school
partnership, science teaching, teacher professional development
Martha Allexsaht-Snider will be presenting.
Few studies of inclusive science education describe science learning communities that
involve teachers, students, and families (see Hammond, 2001, for an exception). To extend
understanding of the potential of these kinds of inclusive spaces for supporting all participants,
we present research from the Steps to College through Science (STC) Bilingual Family
Workshops that we conducted between 2013-2017, together with secondary science teachers
and Latino families and students. Drawing from Freire’s (1970, 2005, 2013) principles of
dialogic education, we analyze a case study (Merriam, 2009) of Teresa, who was the only
bilingual secondary science teacher attending the workshops, as she reflected on her
experiences with Latino students and families. Our research question was: How did Teresa
conceptualize her perspectives and practices of working with Latino emergent bilingual
students and their families in the context of science education? We engaged in narrative
thinking (Freeman, 2017) as we analyzed individual interviews, participant observations, and
written documents based on our interactions with Teresa.
Our findings indicated that Teresa’s participation in the workshops led her to restructure
her work with her students and their families through dialogue-based learning interactions in
the classroom and through actively working with parents as willing partners to engage students
in bilingual science learning both in and beyond school. Teresa linked these practices to her
growing confidence about resisting the mono-cultural and monolingual practices of the middle
school where she taught. Building on Hammond’s (2001), Upadhyay’s (2009), and ArreguinAnderson’s (2013) research, our findings extend ideas about the power of dialogic learning
communities, showing how teachers can develop close relationships with students, families,
and colleagues in ways that support teachers in navigating the challenges and tensions of
teaching science in today’s conflicted sociopolitical context. We challenge policy makers and
teacher professional developers and educational researchers to create, disseminate, and sustain
such dialogic learning communities that are essential to empower critically conscious teachers
who otherwise may feel alone in their efforts to bring inclusive, multicultural, and bilingual
practices to their classrooms, their schools, and their communities.
References:
1. Arreguin-Anderson, M. G., Torres, R., & Ruiz-Escalante, J. A. (2013). Critical
dialogue: Perspectives and practices of three bilingual elementary science teachers.
Journal of Border Educational Research, 10(1), 70-83.
2. Freeman, M. (2017). Modes of thinking for qualitative data analysis. New York, NY:
Routledge.
3. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum.
4. Freire, P. (2005). Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare teach.
Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
5. Freire, P. (2013). Education for critical consciousness. New York, NY: Bloomsbury
Publishing.
6. Hammond, L. (2001). Notes from California: An anthropological approach to urban
science education for language minority families. Journal of Research in Science
Teaching, 38, 983–999.
7. Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
8. Upadhyay, B. (2009). Teaching science for empowerment in an urban classroom: A
case study of a Hmong teacher. Equity & Excellence in Education, 42(2), 217-232.
Joanna Kołodziejczyk
Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
Bartłomiej Walczak
Uniwersytet Warszawski, Poland
What does the state know (and want to know) about parental participation?
Keywords: school-parents partnership, parental involvement, parental participation, evaluation
in education, external evaluation
School-parents cooperation is recognized as one of the key areas of modern schooling
development. Educational law opens possibilities for partnership: parents are entitled to submit
applications and opinions to the principals and other in-school institutions, have some impact
on the principal election. A parental board is – theoretically – responsible for identification of
upbringing and profilactics priorities and preparing the improvement plan. When the school
board is established, their competencies are wider, including enacting the statute, consulting the
budget. School-parents partnership was established as one of the standards in external
evaluation in 2009. This educational standard is based on the participation ladder, including
three levels: information, consultation and decision. Both legal requirements and tool used to
their evaluation were a subject to major change since 2009, which is a good basis to show how
parental participation is being conceptualized.
Our presentation is focused on two main issues: what are the visions of school-parents
partnership in the external evaluation and what data actually says about parental participation.
We are going to use data from external evaluation performed all-over Poland since the last
changes in legal framework (2017). 94 schools were evaluated under this standard since its new
version has been introduced. Data used in the analysis are both qualitative (survey on almost
seven thousands of parents and over two thousands of teachers) and quantitative (90 IDIs with
principals and FGIs with parents and teachers).
References:
1. Banasiak, M. (2013). Współpraca rodziców ze szkołą w kontekście reformy edukacji w
Polsce. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UMK.
2. Borgonovi, F., Mont, G. (2012). Parental Involvement in Selected PISA Countries and
Economies. OECD Education Working Paper no 73. OECD.
3. Domina, T. (2005). Levelling the Home Advantage: Assessing the Effectiveness of
Parental Involvement in Elementary School. Sociology of Education, 78(3), strony 233249.
4. Epstein, J. (2001). School, family, and community partnerships: preparing educators
and improving schools. Boulder: Westview.
5. Epstein, J. L. (1995). School/family/community partnerships. Caring for the Children
We Share. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9), strony 701-712.
6. Hashmi, A. Akhter, M. (2013), Assessing the Parental Involvement in Schooling of
Children in Public /Private Schools, and its Impact on their Achievement at Elementary
Level, Journal of Educational Research (Vol. 16 No.1), strony 27-38
7. Mendel, M. (2001). Rodzice i szkoła. Jak współuczestniczyć w edukacji dzieci? Toruń:
Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek.
Bernadetta Kosewska
Maria Grzegorzewska University, Poland
Pedagogical Therapy Department (Institute of Special Education)
Parental support in the development of a small child with normal development, with a
disability, and disabled. Comparative study
Keywords: child 0-3 years old, child at risk of disability, disabled child, parent / parents of a
small child, development support in the home environment
General description
The considered issues evoke the nature of support of the development of every child provided
by parents and emphasizes the values of interactions in the home environment.
Theoretical framework
When analyzing the phenomenon of child development support, one should reach for the sociointeractive paradigm of the mental development of Bronfenbrenner's child; the transactional
model of Sameroff's development emphasizing the role of mutual exchange of traits, actions of
the child and parents; the concept of L. Wygostki focused on the zone of the nearest
development; techniques of educational interactions highlighted in the studies of B. White's
syndrome; occasional training of S. Szuman; episodes of R. Schaffer's joint involvement;
building the scaffold of J. Bruner and D. Wood as well as the intermediary teaching of R.
Feuerstein.
Research questions, objectives
The aim of the research was to determine the types and the level of parental support in the home
environment provided to young children with normal development, at risk of disability, and
disabled. Research topics have been specified in the following form: 1. What is the level of
parental support for a child with normal development, a child at risk of disability, a disabled
child? Are there significant differences between support groups in this respect, and if so, what
is their nature? 2. What is the level of support for particular types of parental support for a child
with normal development, a child at risk of disability, a disabled child? Is there a significant
difference in that level between the types, and if so, what is its nature?”
Methods
The study employed a self-made tool, a questionnaire "Types of parental support of a young
child", B. Kosewska.
Research findings
The conducted research allows formulating practical recommendations for building and
improving the quality of parental care for a small children with various development at the age
of 0-3:
- building awareness of the essence, of the conditions of optimal development of the child in
the first year of life in all social groups,
- creating conditions for staying with the child during the day, the possibility of building
and developing, among others, language competences; the suggestion is, for example, to
establish nursery care points - a daily caregiver,
- broadening knowledge, increasing skills in the development of independence, selfdetermination, and implementation of behavioral techniques in the process of upbringing;
organizing workshops aimed at developing the above-mentioned spheres of development, tools
supporting the process of bringing up a small child.
References:
1. J. Głodkowska, Constructing the mental representation of the world. Diagnosis,
developmental and educational opportunities for children with mild intellectual
disability in the aspect of constancy and variability in special pedagogy. Printing house
„Impuls”, 2012.
2. E.M. Kulesza, Movement, sight, hearing - the basics of learning. Warsaw: Publisher of
The Maria Grzegorzewska University, 2011.
3. H.R. Schaffer, Child psychology. Warsaw: PWN Scientific Publisher, 2013.
4. A. Twardowski, Early support of the development of children with disabilities in the
family environment. Poznań: Adam Mickiewicz University of Science and Technology,
2012.
5. L.S. Wygotski, Selected psychological works II. Childhood and growing up. Crowd.
Brzezińska A., Marchow M. (eds.) Poznań: Zysk i S-ka Publishing House, 2002.
Agnieszka Kossowska
Opole University of Technology, Poland
School - a communication minefield. Parents of children with ASD as hostile or invisible
participants in the education
Keywords: inclusion, teacher-parent collaboration, parents’ experience, communication
barriers, students with autism spectrum disorder.
Parents are part of education, participants in processes taking place at school – inter alia
the inclusion process. They can become the strength of education, empower children and the
society, but can also become invisible or hostile. The main aim of my presentation is to discuss
the phenomenon of disturbed relationship of teachers and parents of pupils with ASD. I have
placed this problem in the theoretical framework of the critical pedagogy of inclusion. In this
presentation, selected data collected during a project implemented in a triangulation convention
are used. The main aim is to demonstrate three pillars emerging from the study, which the
relationship between parents and teachers should be based on: trust, social sensitivity and proper
communication. The project was carried among parents of students with autism spectrum
disorder.
One group of parents particularly exposed to being only apparent participant in the
education process of their children are parents of children with special educational needs.
Making them real participants in the inclusion process is not a simple task, because they are
particularly vulnerable to parental burnout due to the lack of psychological support, respite care,
everyday coping with a difficult educational, therapeutic, medical, social, economic and
stereotypical reality, and with their own fatigue.
The study revealed the parental ability to become real partners in the inclusive school culture if
the relationship between them and teachers / school headmasters is based on three pillars.
1.
Social sensitivity meant as the ability to recognize needs, expectations, values, beliefs
of other people and as readiness to take appropriate actions.
2.
Trust meant as a support factor, not a naive, unreflective entrustment.
3.
Communication, which is the core of trust. Communication barriers make the
communication in the educational process difficult and sometimes even impossible.
All three pillars are going to be illustrated with fragments of transcription of in-depth interviews
with parents of students with autism spectrum disorder. The last part of the presentation is
devoted to introducing communication barriers.
References:
1. Adams, K.S. & Christenson, S.L. (2000). Trust and the family – school relationship: An
examination of parent – teacher differences in elementary and secondary grades.
Journal of School Psychology, (38), pp. 477–497.
2. Antos, G., Ventola, E. & Weber, T. (eds.) (2008). Handbook of Interpersonal
Communication. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
3. Czerepaniak-Walczak, M. & Perzycka, E. (2013). Trust in Global Perspective.
Szczecin: PPH Zapol.
4. Czerepaniak-Walczak, M. (2018). Kultura szkoły jako środek i ośrodek poszanowania
prawa do edukacji. In: B.D. Gołębniak, M. Pachowicz (eds.): Ku inkluzji społecznokulturowej w szkole. Od pedagogiki klasy do pedagogiki włączającej (p. 13-24).
Poznań: Collegium Da Vinci.
5. Erven, B.L. (2012). Overcoming Barriers to Communication. Available at:
http://aede.osu.edu/about-us/publications/overcoming-barriers-communication
(accessed 5 December 2018).
6. Habermas.
J.
(1987).
Theorie
des
kommunikativen
Handels.
Band
1.
Handlungsrationalität und gesellschaftliche Rationalisierung. Frankfurt am Main:
Suhrkamp Verlag.
7. Kossowska, A. (2018). Rodzice uczniów ze specjalnymi potrzebami edukacyjnymi w
procesie inkluzji rzeczywistej i pozornej. In: B.D. Gołębniak, M. Pachowicz (eds.): Ku
inkluzji społeczno-kulturowej w szkole. Od pedagogiki klasy do pedagogiki włączającej
(pp. 183-210). Poznań: Collegium Da Vinci.
8. Lunenburg, F.C. (2010). Communication: The process, barriers, and improving
effectiveness. Schooling, (1), 1-11.
9. McKay, M., Davis, M. & Fanning. P. (2009). Messages. The Communication Skills
Book. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications.
Agnieszka Kossowska
Opole University of Technology, Poland
Patrycja Łaga
University of Gdańsk, Poland
Activities for social change - the voice of parents
Keywords: parental self-creation, educational interventions, social change
Activities undertaken by parents, both those of an organizational and educational nature, and
not often also political, are more and more often a significant force in the closest environment
- family, school, local community, on the arena of national activities. Both individual and
collective, parental self-creation, whose processes, important from a democratic point of view,
take place in social environments of self-organization, is today an important area of
educational interventions.
The aim of this presentation is to try to expand the field of reflection and socio-pedagogical
action, which - placing the focus of parents' attention - would be an expression of work to
overcome the ongoing crises, mainly humanitarian and democracy. The work on breaking
them is directly connected with the overarching task of social pedagogy identified by Helena
Radlinska: the search for and recognition of forces hidden in the environment, in order to
change and compensate for deficiencies and unmet needs - "deity in potentia in deity in actu"
(Radlińska, 1961, pp. 360-371). The parents' striving for action is directed towards "being
better". This prospective character manifests itself in a pragmatically oriented desire for a
future change in the reality of which they are participants. Parental self-creation can be
understood as the emergence of "human forces" that is "values of the individual and groups of
people in order to implement the eternal pursuit of improvement".
In order to get a closer look at the significance of our parents' activities on the educational,
local and political arena, we have asked a group of parents to write letters in our research
project. They are supposed to provide a parental voice aimed at investigators of parenting
topics, teachers and politicians who directly and indirectly influence the reality with which the
respondents face. The research group consists of parents who, through their actions - both
individual and collective contributed to significant changes both in the situation of themselves
and their children, as well as the entire social group they are a part of. A qualitative analysis
of the obtained research material will allow us to present the attitudes, needs and goals
determining the actions of parents involved in movements seeking social change.
References:
1. Brameld T. (2014), Edukacja jako siła, Biblioteka Myśli Pedagogicznej, Bydgoszcz
2014
2. Melosik Z., Szkudlarek T.(2009), Kultura, tożsamość i edukacja. Migotanie znaczeń,
Kraków 2009
3. Mendel M. (2013), Authoritative and Class-Sensitive Parents: Parental Identities
Shaped through Personal and Political Transitions, International Journal about Parents
in Education, 2013, vol. 7, no. 2.
4. Mendel M. (2016), Parental Identity, Lifelong Learning and School, Malta Review of
Educational Research, Vol. 10 no. 1 / June
5. Mendel M. (2017), Pedagogika miejsca wspólnego. Miasto i szkoła, Wydawnictwo
Naukowe Katedra, Gdańsk
6. Radlińska
H.(1961),
Pedagogika
Społeczna,
Zakład
Narodowy
im.
Ossolińskich,Wrocław
Piotr Kowzan
Iwona Świdlińska
University of Gdansk, Poland
Parental Reasons Behind Children's Participation in Street Protests
Keywords: children's participation, street protests, childen’s rights, parental political
socialization
In the international legal order, public participation of children is a binding standard
(Brzozowska-Brywczyńska, 2013)(Brzozowska-Brywczyńska). However, the actual public
participation of children faces many obstacles, such as a traditional approach to the role of the
child in the family and in the society, matched with the requirement to ensure children's safety
during public assemblies, where there is always a risk of violence (Kowzan et al., 2018). In the
Eastern Europe educators and prominent philosophers inspired by Hannah Arendt (Arendt,
1959) are generally for the exclusion of children from the public sphere of political struggle.
Their point of reference for the assessment of children's participation is often the experience of
totalitarian regimes, where children and youth subjected to state or revolutionary mobilization
were often involved in uncompromising engagement, also against parents or life (Sterrett,
2012). Nevertheless, children are participating in protests. That is why we became interested in
the process of normalisation of protesting children, and we asked parents, assuming that in their
explanations they will refer to the well-being of their children rather than to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
Our data consisted of 20 short interviews with parents or guardians of children participating in
street protests. Interviews were inspired by phenomenographic approach, but they were limited
to one question only: „What does it mean for you to protest together with your child?”, followed
by various deepening questions. Interviews were conducted in March 2018 in Gdansk during
the annual Manifa demonstration and during so called Black Friday Protest. Both
demonstrations were strongly associated with the feminist movement.
As a result of the analysis we extracted several categories (i.e., teaching, learning, leaving the
house, identity) which gathered much of the explanations of the phenomenon of children’s
participation in protests. We linked them with sub-categories (i.e., taking care, making banner,
giving example) which seemed to govern a move between main categories. Eventually, we’ve
managed to create a circular model presenting some sort of algorithm for children’s
participation in protests, in which „leaving the house” turns into „teaching”, because of the
parental „care”. Then „teaching” turns into „learning”, when children prepare their “banners”
and watch reactions on them. The model is circular, because once you are in, participation of
your children in demonstrations becomes obvious. The results might be helpful for schools were
protests are organised together with children, parental acceptance for it is obligatory and there
is a need for discussing the issue beforehand.
References:
1. Arendt, H. (1959). Reflections on Little Rock. Dissent, 6(1), 46–56.
2. Brzozowska-Brywczyńska, M. (2013). Partycypacja publiczna dzieci. Analizy i Opinie,
4(marzec), 1–28.
3. Kowzan, P., Krzymiński, D., Hurko, K., Życzyńska, J., Koenig, M., Bloch, P., … Bigus,
W. (2018). Protestujące dzieci. Teraźniejszość - Człowiek - Edukacja: Kwartalnik Myśli
Społeczno-Pedagogicznej, (1), 45–62.
4. Sterrett, I. Z. (2012). The Pied Piper in power: Ideological resources and the
authoritarian youth group. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Boston College.
Niels Kryger
The Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, Denmark
Allan Westerling
Roskilde University, Denmark
Data of the ‘objectified child’ as a co-actor in the cooperation between parents and
professionals in Danish daycare
Keywords: Cooperation between parents and professional in Danish daycare; screening
programs; Policy studies; Ethnographic studies; Forms of knowledge.
In recent years, Danish daycare institutions make use of an increasing numbers of social
technologies in cooperation between professionals and parents. National and municipal
programs intend by means of testing and screening programs to create ‘knowledge’ (data) about
the individual child as a background for ‘early intervention’. All Danish daycare institutions
are obliged to tests three-year-old children’s language skills as part of a national program.
Moreover, most daycare institutions are obliged (or at least strongly urged) by the municipality
to apply screening programs to test and to shape profiles of the individual child’s competences
in relation to physical, motor, emotional, social and cognitive dimensions.
Based on an ethnographic field study we argue that these data of the individual child create a
‘digital copy of the child’ that appears as an ‘independent’ co-actor in the conversation between
pedagogues (educators) and parents in shape of an ‘objectified child’. I many ways this ‘digital
copy’ constitutes an alienating doppelganger of the child. However, as we will show in an
analysis of a case, this digital copy does not stand unchallenged, but is negotiated in relation to
what we have chosen to call local form of knowledge in the cooperation between parents and
pedagogues (educators). The case is a conversation between parents and professionals in
relation to the 3 years old Ahmed’s transition from nursery to kindergarten. Ahmed has
immigrant background and his low score in the (Danish) language test is a central topic in
conversation.
Theoretically we are informed by ethnographic of policy “in which actors, agents, concepts and
technologies interact in different sites, creating or consolidating new rationalities of governance
and regimes of knowledge and power” (Wright and Shore 2011) and especially we focus on
how policies of test-regimes meet and influence everyday life in daycare institutions.
References:
1. Dannesboe, K.I.; Bach, D.; Kjær, B.; Palludan, C. (2018) Parents of the welfare state:
pedagogues as parenting guides. Social Policy and Society vol. 17 , 3
2. Kryger, N (2015) Det intensiverede samarbejde mellem institution og hjem under den
tredje institutionalisering af barndommen. Dansk Pædagogisk Tidsskrift 2015, 4 (the
intensified
cooperation
between
home
and
institutions
under
the
third
institutionalization of childhood).
3. Mandy Pierlejewski (2017): Constructing and Maintaining Data Doppelgängers:
Rethinking early years assessment in England. (Cconference Paper RECE, Toronto
2017).
4. Schmidt, L.K.S (2014): Sprogtest – når ord får betydning. København Universitet.
(Ph.d.
afhandling
https://static-
curis.ku.dk/portal/files/109441808/Ph.d._2014_Kaarsberg_Schmidt.pdf).
5. Shore, C& Wright, S (2011): Conceptualising Policy: Technologies of Governance and
the Politics of Visibility. In Shore, C., Wright, S. and Davide Però: (eds) Worlds
Anthropology and the Analysis of Contemporary Power. Berghahn Books.
6. Aabro, C. (2016): Koncepter i pædagogisk arbejde. Hans Reitzels Forlag. (Concepts in
educational work)
Katarzyna Kurzyca
Association for Education and Family „Węgielek”
„All the world’s a stage...” - parents’ roles in an educational act of children
Keywords: various parents engagement schemes, involvement in education, parents-schoolchild relationship, parents’ roles in education
In the face of increasing parental involvement in children’s education, new challenges
come to pedagogical researches, such as monitoring and describing such engagement, its causes
and results etc. These new areas concern both theoretical and practical dimensions.
The main subject of the paper is to present the four types of parents’ involvement in
educational process of children. It was indicated on the basis of research carried out in different
schools’ types. The question was: which types of involvement in child’s education do parents
present and how does it correlate with children’s development.
The quantitative and qualitative research was performed. Parents were asked to fill in
an extensive questionnaire and a few of them took part in an interview. Moreover, the schools
were investigated according to the type of parents involvement which they support.
Following William Shakespeare’s words that „All the world’s a stage” the authorial
classification was based on the theatrical language and named every parents’ involvement type
after different kinds of taking part in an act. The final result was specifying such kinds of
involvement which influence the child’s development in a positive way and the ones that disrupt
it. Additionally, it turned out that the scheme of involvement depends on a school type and it is
strongly related to upbringing process types.
Such results create a possibility to formulate the indication which may help parents and
schools to create the best model of engagement in children’s educational process to let them
grow optimally.
References:
1. Allen. J.B. (2007). Creating Welcoming Schools. New York: Teachers College Press.
2. Christopher C.J.,(2009). Nauczyciel – rodzic. Skuteczne porozumiewanie się. Gdańsk:
GWP.
3. Epstein J. (2001). School, family, and community partnerships. Preparing educators
and improving schools. New York: Westview Press.
4. FriedmanM. (2011). Parenting for School Success. Dallas: MWF Publishing.
5. Funkhouser J.(1997). Family Involvement In Childrens Education: Succesful Local
Approaches. Washington: Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
6. Hornby G.(2011). Parental Involvement in Childhood Education: Building Effective
School-Family Partnership. New York: Springer.
7. Misiołek K. (2002). Trójpodmiotowość w praktyce edukacyjnej szkoły zreformowanej.
Mysłowice: GWSP.
8. Mendel M.(1998). Rodzice i szkoła. Jak współuczestniczyć w edukacji dzieci?. Toruń:
wyd. Adam Marszałek.
Joanne Lehrer
Véronique Menand
Department of Educational Sciences
University of Quebec in Outaouais, Quebec, Canada
Stéphanie Duval
Department of Studies on Teaching and Learning
Laval University, Quebec, Canada
Organizing a transition activity: Narrative of a mother in childcare
Keywords: transition practices, childcare, kindergarten, partnership with families, parent
support
Véronique Menand will be presenting.
The transition from childcare to kindergarten (the first year of primary school) can be critical
to both children’s and parents’ sense of belonging at school (Gouvernement du Québec, 2010).
Valuing parents’ knowledge and expertise and working collaboratively to support children’s
transitions are recommended practices (Griebel & Niseel, 2013; Hopps, 2014; Ruel et al., 2015).
Cross-sector communication and continuity are unfortunately a challenge to implement in
Quebec (Ruel et al., 2015). Furthermore, transition practices organized by schools are well
documented, but those organized in the prior-to-school sector are not often reported in the
literature (Lehrer et al., 2017). This intrinsic narrative case study explored one mother’s
experience organizing a transition practice, in collaboration with her son’s educators and the
parents of children from the same childcare centre who were attending kindergarten in various
local schools. The objective of the study was to document how the mother made sense of this
experience, which consisted of inviting children to take pictures of their school and classroom,
and then filming them presenting the photos to their peers at the childcare centre. In addition,
the video was shown to a group of mothers of children in school and childcare, in an effort to
encourage a support network amongst parents. Based on narrative content analysis (Riessman,
2008) of two individual interviews with the mother before and after these activities took place,
we will present findings related to the factors that drove her to initiate the activity, her
reflections comparing her own worries to other parents’ more relaxed attitude, and her
relationship with the childcare center, focusing on educational values (Sellenet, 2012), the
concept of partnership with families (Feyfant, 2015; Hadley & Rouse, 2018; Hedges & Lees,
2010) and parental support needs and experiences during the transition from childcare to school
(Lehrer et al., 2017).
References:
1. Feyfant, A. (2015). Co-éducation: quelle place pour les parents? [Partnership with
families: what place is given to the parents?] Dossiers de veille de l’Institut française de
l’éducation, (98).
2. Gouvernement du Québec. (2010). Guide pour soutenir une première transition
scolaire de qualité. Québec [Guide to support a first quality school transition]:
Ministère de l'Éducation du Loisir et du Sport.
3. Griebel, W. & Niesel, R. (2013). The development of parents in their first child’s
transition to primary school. In K. Magretts et A. Kienig (Eds.), International
perspectives on transition to school: reconceptualizing beliefs, policy and practice (p.
101–110). NY: Routledge.
4. Hopps, K. (2014). Preschool + school +communication= What for educator
relationships? Early Years: An International Research Journal, 34(4), 405-419.
5. Lehrer, J., Bigras, N., & Laurin, I. (2017). Le rôle des centres de la petite enfance dans
la préparation de la transition vers la maternelle des enfants et de leurs familles. [The
role of early childhood centers in preparing for the transition to kindergarten for children
and their families]. Initio, (6).
6. Riessman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
7. Ruel, J., Moreau, A. C., Bérubé, A., & April, J. (2015). Les pratiques de transition lors
de la rentrée des enfants au préscolaire. Évaluation du « Guide pour soutenir une
première transition scolaire de qualité ». Rapport final de recherche [Transitional
practices at the beginning of the preschool period. Evaluation of the "Guide to support
a first quality school transition". Final research report]. Gatineau: Université du Québec
en Outaouais et Pavillon du Parc.
8. Sellenet, C. (2006). Parents-professionnels: une co-éducation en tension [Parentsprofessionals: a partnership in tension]. In C. Deana & G. Greiner (Ed.), Parentsprofessionnels à l'épreuve de la rencontre [Parents-professionals : the challenge of the
meeting] (p. 29-48). Toulouse: Ères.
Cong Lyu
Keyi Lyu
Department of Education
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Lanian Cheng
Minhang District Private Shuangjiang Primary School, Shanghai, China
Jiacheng Li
Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education, Shanghai, China
Making the Learning Happen by the Parent-Child Reading Program: A Study in a
Migrant School in Shanghai, China
Keywords: Parent-Child Reading Program; Migrant Children; Parent Involvement; Lifelong
learning ability
Under urbanization, a large number of rural people have poured into cities, making education
problem for migrant children become a an inevitable topic in China today. In Shanghai,
restricted by the “Hukou Policy”, most of the migrant children can only attend a private primary
school specially designed for them rather than a local public primary school. Studies have
shown that migrant families have many deficiencies in reading compared with the residents
who have favorable living environment. This phenomenon is harmful to the survival and
development of migrant students. However, there are few targeted studies to explore the
problem about using public reading resources to promote their development through
cooperation between parents and schools.
In order to find the current reading situation of migrant families, the study selected 50 migrant
families that belong to a class in S Private Primary School in Shanghai as the research
participants. With the methods of interviewing, observation and questionnaire, the Parent-Child
Reading Program is designed and conducted by the cooperation between universities and
primary schools, the purpose is to explore: 1) How does the program influence utilization
capability of the public reading resources of parents and schools? 2) What are the changes of
the learning ability of teachers, parents and students in the activity?
It is hoped that through these study, 1) the reading quantity and quality of migrant children will
be improved; 2) the ability of migrant families to use public reading resources will be advanced;
3) the collaboration between parents, teachers and community will be more effective; 4) lifelong
learning ability of students, parents and teachers will made significant progress.
References:
1. Deng, F. . (2010). Moving for opportunities? examining the public school attendance
and reading achievement of migrant students in Beijing. Proquest Llc.
2. Wang, L. , & Holland, T. . (2011). In search of educational equity for the migrant
children of shanghai. Comparative Education, 47(4), 471-487.
3. Zhou, L. H. . (2013). Academic achievement and loneliness of migrant children in china:
school segregation and segmented assimilation. Comparative Education Review, 57(1),
85-116.
Benjamin Malczyk
Department of Social Work
University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA
Family Routines Matter: Examining the Interaction of Family Structure, Family Routines
and School Engagement
Keywords: School engagement, Family structure, Family routines, Parenting, Single-parent
Overview
As parents, teachers, and school leaders examine ways to increase student engagement
it is important to examine both family processes as well as family structure (Ginther & Pollack,
2004). Traditionally, single-parent households have been viewed as problematic and linked
with lower academic outcomes (Woessmann, 2015). However, family structure itself is not the
sole causal mechanism. Often the differences in outcomes between single-parent and twoparent households are a matter of family processes, economic resources or other factors rather
than the mere presence of two adults (Malczyk & Lawson, 2019). The current research
examined the impact of family structure and family routines on school engagement. The
specific research questions were: 1) Do single-parent and married parent households participate
in similar levels of family routines and rituals? 2) Do routines and rituals impact school
engagement? 3) Is there a difference in the impact of family routines and rituals on school
engagement based on family structure?
Methods
The analysis is based on a longitudinal data set from the Flourishing Families Project.
Families are from a large northwestern city in the United States. The subsample for this project
included data from waves 3-8 and consisted of 291 two-parent families and 143 single-parent
families. The sample is diverse in its inclusion of families from differing races and income
levels. Families were contacted by researchers and completed an in-home assessment interview
that included a questionnaire assessing various family processes. The key variables of interest
included in this analysis were family structure, family routines and rituals, and school
engagement.
Findings
Consistent with previous findings, results suggest that family structure (e.g. Zimiles &
Lee, 1991) and family routines (Spagnola & Fiese, 2007) impact school related outcomes.
Additionally, results suggest that interaction effects between family structure and family
routines on school engagement were not significant. Overall, this highlights the benefits of
family routines and rituals regardless of family structure. Children in families with more rituals
and routines demonstrated higher levels of engagement regardless of family structure. Results
were consistent across different racial groups and families from varying economic levels.
References:
1. Ginther, D. K., & Pollak, R. A. (2004). Family structure and children’s educational
outcomes:
Blended
families,
stylized
facts,
and
descriptive
regressions. Demography, 41(4), 671- 696.
2. Malczyk, B. R., & Lawson, H. A. (2019). Family focused strategies for student
engagement. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth,
1-9.
3. Spagnola, M., & Fiese, B. H. (2007). Family routines and rituals: A context for
development in the lives of young children. Infants & Young Children, 20(4), 284-299.
4. Woessmann, L. (2015). An international look at the single-parent family. Education
Next, 15(2), 42-49.
5. Zimiles, H., & Lee, V. E. (1991). Adolescent family structure and educational progress.
Developmental Psychology, 27(2), 314.
Raquel-Amaya Martínez-González
Mª Teresa Iglesias-García
Beatriz Rodríguez-Ruiz
Department of Educational Sciences, University of Oviedo, Spain
The need to support positive parenting with parents of teenagers. Implications for schools
and communities
This study is framed in the typologies established by Epstein (2011) to encourage collaboration
between schools, families and communities. Specifically, it addresses the quality of parentschildren relationships (Typology 1-Parenting) understanding it influences children's learning
and their school success (Martínez-González, & Álvarez, 2005). At present, many families tend
to consult teachers about parental guidelines that help them relate positively with their children
in order to stimulate their schoolwork. On the other hand, the Recommendation 2006/19 of the
Council of Europe establishes the need to institutionally support families so that they can
exercise their parental role positively, contributing to reventing school conflicts, absenteeism,
drop-out or school failure. The studies carried out on parental educational involvement indicate
that it decreases as the educational stage of the children increases, especially when the latter are
adolescents (Hill & Tyson, 2009). There are also significant statistical differences according to
the educational level of the parents (Menheere & Hooge, 2010). In this framework of analysis,
the following questions arise: 1) What parental competences can be identified in parents with
teenage children? 2) Are there significant statistical differences in these competences according
to the educational level of the parents? 3) How can schools advise parents to promote their
parental skills? Accordingly, the objective of this study was to analyze the parental competences
of 1422 parents (670 fathers and 752 mothers) with adolescent children, in order to identify
needs in this regard and possible lines of parental advice in the schools. To this end, a
comparative quantitative study was carried out taking into account parents' literacy standards.
The results indicate that those with high er educational levels show more constructive parental
skills than the others, and that families with lower educational levels need greater support in
their educational role. This concludes the convenience of developing in the schools parenting
programs (positive parenting), which can also boost relations with the community (Typology
6-Communities) (Martínez-González, 2009; Martínez-González, Rodríguez-Ruiz, Álvarez, &
Becedóniz, 2016).
References:
1. Epstein, J. L. (2011). School, Family and Community Partnerships. Preparing
Educators and Improving Schools. Philadelphia: Westview Press.
2. Hill, N. E., & Tyson, D. F. (2009). Parental involvement in middle school: a metaanalytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. Developmental
Psychology, 49(3), 740-763
3. Martínez-González, R.A., & Álvarez, L. (2005). Fracaso y abandono escolar en
Educación Secundaria Obligatoria: Implicación de la familia y los centros escolares.
Aula Abierta, 85, 127-146.
4. Martínez-González, R. A. (2009). Programa-Guía para el Desarrollo de Competencias
Emocionales, Educativas y Parentales [Program-Guide to DevelopEmotional,
Educative and Parenting Competences]. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad y Política
Social.
5. Martínez-González, R.A., Rodríguez-Ruiz, B., Álvarez, L. y Becedóniz, C. (2016).
Evidence in Promoting Positive Parenting Through the Program-Guide to Develop
Emotional Competences. Psychosocial Intervention, 25(2), 111-117.
6. Menheere, A., & H. Hooge, E.H. (2010). Parental involvement in children’s education:
A review study about the effect of parental involvement on children’s school education
with a focus on the position of illiterate parents. Journal of the European Teacher
Education Network JETEN. 6, 144-157.
Alexei Medvedev
KWB Koordinierungsstelle Weiterbildung und Beschäftigung e. V.
House of Commerce, Hamburg, Germany
Sustainability of school-based parent projects: Lessons learnt from the evaluation of the
project Schulmentoren (2014 - 2020)
Keywords: Parent mentoring, school-based projects, out-of-school partners, success criteria
and sustainability
Schools can be reliant on cooperation with other partners when it comes to implementation of
projects or programs or provision of certain services like training or supervision. To meet this
kind of demand, the municipality of Hamburg launched 2014 the Schulmentoren project carried
out by the regional School Ministry and a Hamburg-based agency of social projects called KWB
(Medvedev/Vaccaro 2015). The project addresses parents, students as well as adult volunteers
and trains them as mentors for schools and neighborhoods. The project is being implemented
at more than 30 schools in Hamburg in socially deprived areas.
Nearly all social projects financed from public funds are supposed to create reliable wellfunctioning structures before the funding expires. In fact, many projects disappear without
leaving any trace even in a short-term perspective. In other words, the issue of project
sustainability remains one of the crucial topics at practical level.
The main goal of the external evaluation of the Schulmentoren project (Ramboll 2019) was to
find out and describe possible scenarios how schools can go on with the project without ideal,
technical, material and other support from outside they used to have in the course of 6 years.
The contribution shares relevant findings from the evaluation report on the issue of
sustainability from the point of view of an out-of-school partner.
References:
1. Medvedev A., Vaccaro E. (2015): Schools, School Ministries and Out-of-School
Organizations: Enemies, Rivals, or Partners? The Schulmentoren Project as a New Kind
of Private-Public Partnership (PPP+) In: ERNAPE-Arctic, Tromsø, Norway. 26-28
August 2015. Information and Abstracts. pp. 48-49.
2. Ramboll (2019): Evaluation des ESF-Projekts „Schulmentoren 2.0“. Zentrale
Ergebnisse der Befragung der teilnehmenden Schulen
Maria Mersini Pananaki
Department of Education, Stockholm University, Sweden
The parent-teacher relationship-a social practice in an institutional setting
Keywords: parent-teacher relationship, social practice, structure, agency
This presentation takes up on the issue of parent-teacher relationship in Swedish compulsory
schools and constitutes the groundwork for my doctoral thesis. In Sweden, there is relatively
little knowledge on the topic and researchers stress the need for more critical studies and in
different school settings (Erikson, 2004; Bouakaz, 2007; Swedish Research Council, 2015).
The aim of this study is to get an insight on parents’ and teachers’ experiences of this
relationship and to explore the different factors that might affect it, e.g. institutions and
individuals. Regarding research questions, the first one explores cultural beliefs (views on
parenting, child-upbringing etc.) that parents and teachers bring in their encounter and examines
what happens when these beliefs ‘meet’. Moreover, the second question consists of two parts;
the first examines how and to what extent school culture affects the way parents and teachers
position themselves in this relationship while the second part explores the way and the extent
parents and teachers make use of their own voice and/or self-reflexivity in shaping their
relationship. Finally, the study focuses on parents of diverse sociocultural resources and ethnic
backgrounds and the last question therefore explores the way and the extent these factors affect
the relationship and parents’ involvement in school. Theoretically, the studied phenomenon is
viewed as a form of social practice; the result of the interplay between structure and agency
(Bourdieu, 1977). Structure here refers to those rules and ideals that frame the relationship and
agency concerns individuals’ self-reflexivity and previous experiences. The main theoretical
tools are the concepts of habitus, doxa and capital and are based on Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory
of Practice (Bourdieu, 1977). In terms of methods, the study made use of qualitative interviews
with parents and teachers as well as observations in individual parent-teacher meetings. Some
of the key-findings are: the possibility of “micro-changes”-use of individual practices to
transform one’s relationship from negative to positive, existence of two-way moral-value
transfer-from teachers to parents and from parents to teachers, the effect of school management
on teachers’ and parents’ practices as well as parents’ socioeconomic status as a major
influence-factor.
References:
1. Bouakaz, L. (2007). Parental involvement in school: What promotes and what hinders
parental involvement in an urban school. Malmö University, School of Teacher
Education: Doctoral thesis
2. Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. (Nice R. Ed.). Cambridge:
Cambridge Univ. Press.
3. Erikson, L. (2004). Föräldrar och skola [Parents and School]. Örebro University:
Örebro Studies in Education
4. Swedish Research Council (2015). Tre forskningsöversikter inom området
specialpedagogik/inkludering.
[Three
research
overviews
on
the
special
education/inclusion area]. Vetenskapsrådets Rapporter
Monica Miller Marsh
Kent State University Child Development Center, USA
Lola Raimbekova
Mustary Mariyam
Kent State University, USA
Building A Culturally Responsive Framework for School Engagement with Immigrant
Parents
Keywords: Immigrant parents, parent engagement, qualitative research, funds of identity,
culturally responsive schools
A robust body of research provides evidence that learning is improved when families and
schools collaborate (Epstein, 1995; Fan & Chen, 2001; Pushor, 2012). Parental involvement is
widely cited as crucial to the educational success of immigrant children, but is difficult to
implement effectively (Doucet, 2011; Lowenhaupt & Montgomery, 2018; Tobin, Arzubiaga,
Adair, 2013). Immigrants to the United States have been expected to follow traditional
frameworks for parent involvement, which actually hinder their engagement in schools (Crozier
and Davies, 2007; Isik-Ercan, 2018; Schneider & Arnot, 2018). A growing body of research
views immigrant parents as cultural mediators and active agents of their children’s learning
(Isik-Ercan, 2018, p. 69) who can help educators guide their children’s educational experiences
in culturally responsive ways.
This qualitative research was conducted at a university laboratory school located in the
Midwestern United States. The school serves 150 children from 18 months through age 6 from
a variety of cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds. A case study approach was
utilized to answer the research question: How do parents who are immigrants define their roles
and responsibilities in the education of their young children? Data were drawn from parent
surveys distributed to the entire international/immigrant population and from semi -structured
interviews conducted with 10 immigrant parents - 9 mothers and 1 father.
This study is unique, as it focuses on highly educated parents from a variety of backgrounds
who have migrated to the US for reasons ranging from being granted political asylum to
pursuing opportunities for educational and career advancement.
Data analysis was conducted using a funds of identity approach (Esteban-Guitart, 2016).
Research findings highlight the ways immigrant parents support and enrich their children’s
educational experiences despite being rarely seen in school. We conclude by discussing ways
educators can build on the knowledge, effort, and determination immigrant parents bring with
them from home into school and highlight changes the school has made in response to the needs
of this learning community.
References:
1. Crozier, G. & Davies, J. (2007). Hard to reach parents or hard to reach schools? A
discussion of home-school relations with particular reference to Bangladeshi and
Pakistani parents. British Educational Research Journal, 33(3), 295-313.
2. Doucet, F. (2011). (Re) Constructing home and school: Immigrant parents, agency, and
the (un)desirability of bridging multiple worlds. Teachers College Record, 113(12),
2705-2738.
3. Epstein, J.L. (1995). School/family/community partnerships. Caring for the children we
share. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9), p. 701-712.
4. Fan, X., & Chen, M. (2001). Parental involvement and students’ academic achievement:
A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 13, 1-22.
5. Esteban-Guitart, M. (2016). Funds of identity: Connecting meaningful learning
experiences in and out of school. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
6. Isik- Ercan, Z. (2018). Rethinking “parent involvement”: Perspectives of immigrant and
refugee parents. In Supporting Young Children of Immigrants in PreK-3. Bank Street
Occasional Paper Series. Bank Street: NY.
7. Lowenhaupt, R. & Montgomery, N. (2018) Family engagement practices as sites of
possibility: Supporting immigrant families through a district-university partnership.
Theory Into Practice, 57(2), 99-108. DOI: 10.1080/00405841.2018.1425814
8. Pushor, D. (2012). Tracing my research on parent engagement: working to interrupt the
story of school as protectorate. Action in Teacher Education, 34: 5-6, 464-479
9. Schneider, C. & Arnot, M. (2018). Transactional school-home-school communication:
Addressing the mismatches between migrant parents' and teachers' views of parental
knowledge, engagement and the barriers to engagement. Teaching and Teacher
Education 75, 10-20.
10. Tobin, J., Arzubiaga, A., Adair, J. (2013). Children crossing borders: Immigrant parent
and teacher perspectives on preschool for children. New York: Russell Sage
Foundation.
Waliah Musoke
Independent researcher, London, United Kingdom
The educational strategies of Black Ugandan British parents in England
Keywords: Double class identities, intersectionality, concerted cultivation, social class
Lareau strongly associates education advantage or disadvantage with the different types of
parenting practices amongst different social classes (Lareau, 2002, 2003, 2011). This paper
takes Lareau’s valuable study a step further to suggest that parental engagement in concerted
cultivation/ An accomplishment of Natural Growth is not specifically attached or fixed to
specific social classes as identified by Lareau in her study. The intersectionality of Black
Ugandan British parents’ double class identities with the parents’ culture informs parental
engagement in concerted cultivation. Whilst revealing class complexities, this paper illustrates
the importance of understanding the intersections of class and culture in the studies of parental
involvement in children’s education. This paper draws on data from an ethnographic doctoral
study which explored how Black Ugandan British parents support their children’s learning
within their home environments in England. The study comprised ten families with refugee and
asylum seeking-backgrounds in two London boroughs. Adopting an ethnographic and an
interpretive approach allowed the exploration of how the parents supported their children’s
education over time through data collected via long-term interactions, observations and semistructured interviews. Yosso’s (2005) concept of community cultural wealth was adopted to
analyse the data and data was also theorised using Critical Race Theory.
Andrea Nickel-Schwäbisch
Lutheran University of Applied Science, Germany
Language and violence: theory for practice based research about parents in education
My lecture will contribute to the development of theoretical ideas which can inform practice
based research about parents in education by looking at the important role of language. Its main
topic is the brutalization of language and the consequences for the development of human
beings in the context of Martin Buber’ s philosophy of dialogue.
Language is not mere communication, but also an expression of our thinking and behavior.
Language reflects social relationships. Therefore one must be concerned about how fast
language (language of parents, too) in the present is changing, how quickly taboos break away.
There is talk of “human capital” or of people as “costs on two legs”. The financialization of
society, which reduces people to their (market) value, becomes clear. Our language has clearly
adapted to the rules of our consumer and disposable society and those rules do not stop at people
either.
This change of language has a great impact for the development of human beings.
The American philosopher Judith Butler explains the hurtful power of words by saying that
people come only to existence through language: we rely on language, even to be. Thus, our
personal name gives us a place in the fabric of social space and historical time; but this place,
marked and claimed by the name, is not given once and for all, but must be constantly acquired
and achieved anew. Therefore, we need to be addressed by others in order to become a subject
at all. Our personal recognition in speech puts us in the social world; our personal denial
expulses us from the social world.
Judith Butler's remarks are based on considerations by Martin Buber. He should be addressed
at this point, because he is sensitive to the linguistic interaction with others. Dealing with Martin
Buber's theory, especially in the present, can help us to understand the important role of langue
for the development of individuals and societies.
The conclusions of the presentation focus on recommendations formulated from the perspective
of the needs of researchers in the issue of parents in education.
E.Nihal Lindberg
Kastamonu University Department of Educational Sciences, Turkey
Pinar Guven
Kastamonu University Education Faculty, Turkey
Academic Expectations, Parental Involvement, Family Income, Parents’ Education Level
as Predictors of Child Achievement
Key words: Academic Success, Parental Involvement, Parental Expectation
E.Nihal Lindberg will be presenting.
Today, academic success is one of the most important key components of getting a good college
degree, having a good job and reaching a wealthy life conditions in future. Individual variables
such as intelligence (Rohde & Thompson, 2007), intrinsic motivation (Steinmayr & Spinath,
2009), expectation for future (Walkey, McClure, Meyer, Weir, 2013) and school and education
system related variables have been important determinants of academic success, On the other
hand, today, family-related variables such as parent’ education level (Davis-Kean, 2005),
family socio-economic status (Dandy & Nettelbeck, 2002), parental involvement (Jeynes,
2007), parental expectation (Phillipson & Phillipson 2007) are considered as important
indicators of academic success. In this regard, the main objective of this study is to develop a
model of the effects of parental variables (parental involvement, parental expectation, parent’s
educational and socioeconomic level) on academic success of secondary school students. To
gather quantitative data of the study, Parent Survey of Family And Community Involvement In
The Elementary and Middle Grades developed by Sheldon and Epstein (2007) was delivered
to 420 parents with different educational and economical backgrounds. The parental
expectation was questioned by a question of “How much more do you think your child, who is
now in secondary school, will continue his education?”. The level of final-year grade of students
submitted by their parents who filled the scale was used for analyses. There is one dependent
variable that is academic success and four independent variables which are PI, parental
expectation, parents’ education and socioeconomic level. The relationships between these
variables were analyzed by calculating suitable correlation coefficients. Results showed that
parents education level, parental expectation and school – family relations and home-based
parental involvement as being sub-categories of Parental Involvement have statistically
significant relations with academic success. By using the significant variables, regressional
model was tested in order to explain the variance of the academic success. The results showed
that parental expectation, school – family relations, and parental education level served as the
predictors of academic success. On the other hand, the most important predictors of the
academic success was the parental expectation.
References:
1. Dandy, J., & Nettelbeck, T. (2002) A cross-cultural study of parents' academic standards
and educational aspirations for their children, Educational Psychology: An International
Journal
of
Experimental
Educational
Psychology,
22
(5),
621-627.
doi:
10.1080/0144341022000023662.
2. Davis-Kean, P. D. (2005). The influence of parent education and family income on child
achievement: The indirect role of parental expectations and the home environment.
Journal of Family Psychology, 19 (2), 294–304. doi: 10.1037/0893-3200.19.2.294
3. Jeynes, W. H. (2007). The relationship between parental ınvolvement and urban
secondary school student academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Urban Education,
42 (1), 82-110. doi: 10.1177/0042085906293818
4. Phillipson, S., & Phillipson, S. N. (2007). Academic expectations, belief of ability, and
involvement by parents as predictors of child achievement: A cross-cultural
comparison.
Educational
Psychology,
(3),329–348.
27
doi:
10.1080/01443410601104130
5. Rohde, T. E., & Thompson, L. A. (2007). Predicting academic achievement with
cognitive ability. Intelligence, 35 (1), 83-92. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2006.05.004
6. Sheldon, S. B. & Epstein, J. L. (2007). Parent survey of family and community
involvement in the elementary and middle grades. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University,
Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships.
7. Steinmayr, R., & Spinath, B. (2009). The importance of motivation as a predictor of
school achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 19 (1), 80-90.
doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2008.05.004
8. Walkey, F., McClure, J., Meyer, L., & Weir, K. (2013). Low expectations equal no
expectations: Aspirations, motivation, and achievement in secondary school.
Contemporary
Educational
10.1016/j.cedpsych.2013.06.004
Psychology
38
(4),
306–315.
doi:
Margaret O'Connell Hanna
School of Education, University of Michigan, USA
Learning from the Community-Engaged Practices of a “Kid Success” Neighborhood
Keywords: school-community partnerships; family literacy; Latinx; culturally relevant
pedagogy; care
Family literacy programs have long been a method of family engagement used by schools and
community organizations. Critics have found many programs to be deficit-based and
prescriptive (Auerbach; Purcell-Gates; Rodriguez-Brown), while other enrichment-based
programs take into account the cultural and linguistic assets of participants (Ladson-Billings;
Anderson et. al; Rodriguez-Brown). However, there has not been sufficient research to explore
the engagement strategies used in the context surrounding family literacy programming. This
paper is informed by a single case study of the community-engagement model employed by an
urban neighborhood center in a largely Latinx and poverty-impacted U.S. city. This center has
accepted a role in a local school-community partnership initiative to focus on early literacy in
the neighborhood. In this study I use ethnographic methods to explore the model of community
engagement the center is using and how families experience their participation at the center.
These questions were investigated through interviews, observations, and survey analysis: How
does the model of community engagement used at a neighborhood community center influence
how the staff and leadership of the center respond to community members’ language and
culture? How do the families who participate in literacy programs at the community center
view their role at the community center and in schools? The preliminary findings of the study
highlight a model of engagement that is culturally and linguistically responsive and
characterized by humanizing pedagogy, bidirectional learning and care (Wilson). Instead of
seeing the neighborhood in terms of deficits, the community center engages the strengths of
participating families by seeking to learn from them and work with them (Baquedano-Lopez et.
al). In this paper, I argue that organizations participating in school-community partnerships
would benefit from using similar models of engagement to learn from and respond to the
families they seek to serve with their literacy programs (Montoya-Ávila et. al). In conclusion,
this project, by closely examining one thriving model of community-engagement in a Detroit
neighborhood, sheds new light on the importance of the context of school-community
partnerships.
References:
1. Anderson, J., Purcell-Gates, V., Jang, K., & Gagné, M. (2010). Implementing an
intergenerational literacy program with authentic literacy instruction: Challenges,
responses, and results. Vancouver, British Columbia: Canadian Council on Learning.
2. Auerbach, S. (Ed.). (2012). School leadership for authentic family and community
partnerships: Research perspectives for transforming practice. Routledge.
3. Baquedano-López, P., Alexander, R., & Hernandez, S. (2013). Equity Issues in Parental
and Community Involvement in Schools: What Teacher Educators Need to Know.
Review of Research in Education, 37, 149-182.
4. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teaching for AfricanAmerican students.
5. Montoya-Ávila, A., Ghebreab, N., & Galindo, C. (2018). Toward Improving the
Educational Opportunities for Black and Latinx Young Children: Strengthening
Family-School Partnerships. In Academic Socialization of Young Black and Latino
Children (pp. 209-231). Springer, Cham.
6. Purcell-Gates, V. (2000). Family literacy. Handbook of reading research, 3, 853-870.
7. Rodriguez-Brown, F. V. (2011). Family literacy: A current view of research on parents
and children learning together. In Handbook of Reading Research, Volume IV (pp. 752780). Routledge.
8. Rodríguez-Brown, F. V. (2009). The home–school connection: Lessons learned in a
culturally and linguistically diverse community. Routledge.
9. Wilson, C. M. (2015). Refusing Detroit’s public school failure: African American
women’s educational advocacy and critical care versus the politics of disposability.
education policy analysis archives, 23, 125.
Bukola Oyinloye
The Open University, United Kingdom
“I still don’t understand…”: Photo-elicitation and parents in rural communities in North
Central Nigeria
Keywords: rural, photo-elicitation, methods, primary school, Nigeria
Photo-elicitation interviews, or PEIs, are interviews carried out with the aid of photographs or
other visual aids to elicit information from respondents (Harper, 2002). Bates, McCann, Kaye
& Taylor (2017) identify three types, two of which include open, participant driven (where
participants are requested to provide photo(s) relevant to the research interest) and researcherdriven (researcher provides photos and uses them to stimulate discussion) PEI. With the aid of
disposable, one-time use cameras purchased in the United Kingdom, this study sought to carry
out open-participant driven PEIs with parents in two rural communities in North Central Nigeria
to illuminate their perspectives on the primary schooling of their children. Moreover, open,
participant-driven PEIs was seen as a way to alter the researcher-participant power dynamic by
empowering parents to define what they deemed important (Copes et al., 2018) without
influence from the researcher (Bates et al., 2017), thereby aligning with the study’s
constructivist epistemology which seeks to understand participants’ own construction of their
lived realities. However, an inability to find a place to develop the cameras in the towns nearest
the fieldwork sites and across the country’s two major cities necessitated an alternative to the
disposable cameras. Furthermore, in practice, PEI proved technically challenging and culturally
strange to rural parents. As such, the outcome of the technique was a combination of the two
types of PEIs which I term researcher-facilitated, participant-driven PEI. This paper explores
how I navigated and partially addressed the constraints of PEI during data generation with
parents in rural North Central Nigeria in order to produce this outcome.
References:
1. Bates, E. A., McCann, J. J., Kaye, L. K., & Taylor, J. C. (2017). “Beyond words”: a
researcher’s guide to using photo elicitation. Psychology, 14(4), 459-481.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2017.1359352
2. Copes, H., Tchoula, W., Brookman, F., & Ragland, J. (2018). Photo-Elicitation
interviews with vulnerable populations: Practical and ethical considerations. Deviant
Behavior, 39(4), 475-494. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2017.1407109
3. Harper, D. (2002). Talking about pictures: A case for photo elicitation. Visual Studies,
17(1), 13-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725860220137345
Hui-Ju Pai
Providence University
Taichung City, Taiwan, China
Hsiu-Zu Ho
Gevirtz Graduate School of Education
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Yeana W. Lam
University of California Education Abroad Program, USA
A Case Study of a Tutoring Program as Catalyst for Strengthening Family-SchoolCommunity Partnerships in the Atayal Indigenous Tribe in Taiwan
Keywords: Family-School-Community Partnerships, indigenous education, community tutor,
Boyo-Schools’ Collaborative Tutoring Program
Hui-Ju Pai will be presenting.
In Taiwan, schools, families, and tribal communities are the main pillars of indigenous
education. The outcome of education in rural areas has been greatly impacted by factors such
as family structure, high rate of teacher turnover, and economic mobility. The Boyo-Schools’
Collaborative Tutoring Program, which serves the Atayal indigenous tribe in three schools (two
elementary schools and one middle school) in Yi-Lan County, Taiwan, bridges this gap. The
program recruits and trains locals as tutors to solve several problems in this rural community,
such as the shortage of teaching staff and the lack of after-school care. Qualitative analysis,
including interviews and document reviews, was conducted by employing a thematic analysis
approach.
The main guiding question emerged: In what ways does the Boyo-Schools Collaborative
Tutoring Program promote family-school-community partnership? The guiding question then
led to the following three primary questions: (1) What roles do these critical partners play? (2)
How does the family-school-community partnership work in practice? (3) What are the
successes and challenges?
Results of the study revealed the program enhances parents’ awareness of their
responsibilities towards their children, invites the community to take part in the activities of the
program, promotes the collaboration among teachers, family members, and the community
tutors towards improving student behavior and academic performance as well as provides
professional support in fields such as education, research, counseling, social work and
publications. In addition, the Boyo Social Welfare Foundation provides not only academic
tutoring but also support services for underserved families, follow-up services for junior high
school graduates, and the establishment of school support networks.
References:
1. Bauch, P. A. (2001). School-community partnerships in rural schools: Leadership,
renewal, and sense of place. Peabody Journal of Education, 76(2), 204-221.
2. Bryan, J., & Henrry, L. (2008). Strengths-based partnerships: A school-familycommunity partnership approach to empowering students. Professional School
Counseling, 12(2), 149-156.
3. Dotson-Black, K. P. (2010). Learning from each other: A portrait of family-school
community partnerships in the United States and Mexico. Professional School
Counseling, 14, 101-114.
4. Epstein, J. L., & Sanders, M. G. (1996). School, family, community partnerships:
Overview and new directions. In D. L. Levinson, A. R. Sadovnik, & P. W. Cokson, Jr.
(Eds.), Education and sociology: An encyclopedia (pp. 525-532). New York: Garland
Publishing.
5. Epstein, J., & Van Voorhis, F. (2010). School counselors' roles in developing
partnerships with families and communities for student success. Professional School
Counseling, 14(1), 1-14.
6. Lu, T. H. (2009). For remote township students to establish “Tutors”-Introduction of
online tutoring program of the Ministry of Education 2008-2009 service plan in remote
areas. Taipei County Education, 67, 84-86.
7. Martin, J., Tett, L. & Kay, H. (1999). Developing collaborative partnerships: Limits and
possibilities for schools, parents and community education. International Studies in
Sociology of Education, 9(1), 59-75.
8. Milne, E. (2015). Renegotiating family-school relationships among Indigenous Peoples
in
southern
Ontario.
Retrieved
from
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/9810/Milne_Emily.pdf;sequence
=1
9. Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., &Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis:
Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative
Methods, 16(1), 1-13.
10. Rothman, T., & Henderson, M. (2011). Do school-based tutoring programs significantly
improve student performance on standardized tests? RMLE Online, 34(6), 1-10.
11. Tsai, C. T. (2013). Exploring the implementation of the after-school alternative program
for disadvantaged elementary school students in Taiwan from the perspective of social
justice leadership theory. The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning, 9(2),
70-78.
Pinelopi Patrika
University of Thessaly, Department of Special Education, Greece
Anastasia Vlachou
University of Thessaly, Department of Special Education, Greece
Relations between professionals and mothers of children with developmental disabilities:
the voices of mothers.
Keywords: mothers’ views, children and adolescences with developmental disabilities,
professionals, empowerment
Pinelopi Patrika will be presenting.
Raising a child with disability is a complex and contradictory experience associated with many
challenges. This experience is often described as a ‘pile-up’ of demanding roles, multiple needs,
and stressful pressures that parents should be in a position to address effectively. Research on
the experiences of parents of children with disabilities has shown that medical, sociopsychological and educational services are crucial factors in the process of supporting them to
deal with the challenges involved (Hodge & Runswick‐Cole, 2008; French & Swain, 2001). In
turn, the role of professionals is of paramount importance as they can empower families by
acting as a source of information, offering practical and emotional support and introducing new
coping mechanisms (Avis & Reardon, 2008; Graungaard & Skov, 2006; Skotko, 2005). In light
of the above, the present large scale qualitative study aimed to explore the way(s) mothers of
children/adolescents with disabilities experience and perceive their relations with the
professionals working in medical/diagnostic centers and schools as well as the support they
received by them. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 73 mothers of
children and adolescents with developmental disabilities aged 11 to 17 years old. The
participants originated from 7 cities, in urban/suburban areas in the southern and central parts
of Greece. The data were analyzed according to the principles of thematic (inductive datadriven
approach)
and
content
analyses.
The
analysis
revealed
that
the
participating mothers were receiving a wide range of services from different professionals.
However, their accounts indicated that there was a lack of coordination among those
services. They were also found to experience both conflicting and restrictive beliefs and
practices in their relations with professionals (i.e., rejecting/ignorant versus supportive/caring
behaviors). Additionally, the majority of mothers identified a variety of needs both for them and
their child; nevertheless, unmet needs and the lack of state provisions in terms of therapies for
their children were some of their most dominant reported concerns. Lastly, the analysis
revealed that mothers’ responses were not differentiated according to the type of services, the
degree of disability or the area they live. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
References:
1. Avis, M., & Reardon, R. (2008). Understanding the views of parents of children with
special needs about the nursing care their child receives when in hospital: a qualitative
study. Journal of Child Health Care, 12(1), 7-17.
2. French, S. and Swain, J. (2001). The relationship between disabled people and health
and welfare professionals. In Albrecht, G. L., Seelman, K. D. and Bury, M. (Eds.)
Handbook of Disability Studies, Thousand Oaks: Sage.
3. Graungaard, A. H., & Skov, L. (2007). Why do we need a diagnosis? A qualitative study
of parents’ experiences, coping and needs, when the newborn child is severely
disabled. Child: care, health and development, 33(3), 296-307.
4. Hodge, N., & Runswick‐Cole, K. (2008). Problematising parent–professional
partnerships in education. Disability & Society, 23(6), 637-647.
5. Skotko, B. (2005). Mothers of children with Down syndrome reflect on their postnatal
support. Pediatrics, 115(1), 64-77.
Dorien Petri
Margreet Luinge
Annelies Kassenberg
Teachers, parents, and children about cooperation in bullying
Keywords: bullying, parent-teacher cooperation, primary education
Dorien Petri will be presenting.
Bullying at school is an emotionally charged topic that significantly tests the relationship
between parents and teachers. Parents believe that teachers need to act more effectively and that
they should communicate better about the bullying in the classroom (Roede & Felix, 2009).
Many (beginning) teachers feel inadequately prepared for cooperating with parents. They need
more skills and knowledge in communication and cooperation with parents in general (HiattMicheal, 2001) and especially in the case of bullying (Melnick & Meister, 2008). There is also
substantial uncertainty among teachers about the definition, recognition, and detection of
bullying (Oostdam, 2015; Oldenburg, Bosman & Veenstra, 2016). Research stresses the
importance of the cooperation between teachers and parents in tackling bullying in the
classroom (Munniksma, Huitsing, Oldenburg, Van der Ploeg & Veenstra, 2014). However,
little is known about what works in parent-teacher cooperation to solve bullying at school.
Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the perceptions of parents, teachers, and children
concerning parent-teacher cooperation in the case of bullying at school. Insights obtained from
this study can be used to identify target areas to improve the cooperation between teachers and
parents when bullying occurs between primary school children.
Qualitative, narrative research was conducted to gain insight into the experiences of teachers,
parents, and children. Data were collected from stories about bullying and parent-teacher
cooperation in three primary schools in the North of the Netherlands. We used convenience
sampling to select ten parents, ten teachers, and five children from each school. We collected
628 stories from these target groups.
All selected stories (57) about bullying at school were processed and coded in AtlasTi.
Results show three important factors for cooperating effectively in the fight against bullying:
1) teachers must be informed (by parents or the child) about the bullying; 2) parents need to be
taken seriously (respectful treatment); 3) teachers should inform parents about their actions in
the classroom and the progress they make with their students in the case of bullying.
References:
1. Hiatt-Michael, D.B. (2001). Preparing teachers to work with parents. Washington D.C.:
ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education.
2. Melnick, S.A. & Meister, D.G. (2008). A comparison of beginning and experienced
teachers’concerns. Educational Research Quarterly, 31(3), 39-56.
3. Munniksma, F., Huitsing, G., Oldenburg, B., Ploeg, R. van der & Veenstra, R. (2014).
Samenwerken tegen pesten. In R. Oostdam & P. de Vries (red.). Samen werken aan
leren en opvoeden. Basisboek over ouders en school (pp. 211-224). Bussum: Coutinho.
4. Oldenburg, B., Bosman, M.H. & Veenstra, R. (2016). Are elementary school teachers
prepared to tackle bullying? A pilot study. School Psychology International, 37, 64-72.
5. Oostdam, R. (2015). Anti-pestbeleid: naar verbetering van professioneel handelen bij
pestgedrag van kinderen in het basisonderwijs. Amsterdam: HvA.
6. Roede, E. & Felix, C. (2009). Het einde van pesten op school in zicht? De effectiviteit
van antipestaanpakken op basisscholen. Amsterdam: SCO-Kohnstamm Instituut
Helen Phtiaka
Sociology of Education & Inclusive Education
University of Cyprus, Cyprus
Giorgos Konstantinidis
Primary teacher
Parenting a child with disability in the Greek-Cypriot context: possibilities and
constraints according to the experience of fifteen fathers
Keywords: fatherhood, disability, acceptance, challenges
Giorgos Konstantinidis will be presenting.
Theoretical framework
It seems that the presence of a disabled child is a turning point in most men’s lives. It
transforms their lives and the way that family works (Bragiel & Kaniok, 2014; Darling,
Senatore, & Strachan, 2012) as well as how children themselves experience disability (Bonsall,
2013). Moving through a wave of emotional transition and feeling a possible personal fault for
their child's disability, fathers are expected to overcome additional difficulties and obstacles
that fathers of children without disabilities will never encounter (Shandra, Hogan & Spearin,
2008).
Research questions - objectives
The modern research attempts to discover the multifaceted and multidimensional role
that fathers develop within the family, especially in cases where the family hosts a disabled
child whereas challenges of everyday life are higher and more complex. Thus, this presentation
aims to illustrate: (a) how do men impersonate paternity (b) what does it mean to be a father of
a disabled child in the Greek-Cypriot context; and (c) what attitudes do fathers adopt towards
disability.
Methodology
A qualitative research model was applied. Fifteen fathers who were married and lived
with a disabled child participated in this research (phenomenological approach). Data were
collected as follows: Oral history (15 participants; 2 interviews per participant), focus group (3
participants) and observation (7 participants). Anonymity and confidentiality procedures were
followed.
Findings
Fathering forces some men to find work that provides more money and allows them to
develop more effectively the role of provider. In addition, childbirth seems to significantly
enhance masculinity. Most fathers interact with their disabled child through entertainment
activities, while they show reduced interest in education and care duties.
In relation to the second research question, it has been found that paternity is a period
of conflicting emotions. Nobody is pre-prepared to become a parent of a disabled child.
Disability is identified as the uninvited visitor from whom they think they can escape. After
travelling abroad they realise that disability has a permanent status. Hence, they are engaged in
an early intervention and support to their disabled child.
It takes a long time for fathers to achieve acceptance, whereas with a lack of a positive
attitude there is a risk of abandoning the disabled child. By accepting disability, they greatly
increase their satisfaction in the paternal role. In addition, they claim that disability has a
positive effect on their lives. The main problem they face is the negative attitudes of society
(fear towards disability), especially since the decriminalisation of abortions has revived the
notion that death is better than life with disability. However, the strong rhetoric that the
Orthodox Church has developed around the issue of abortion and their personal experience
prevents most fathers from disapproving of abortion, contending that lives of the disabled
people are just as valuable as any human life.
References:
1. Bonsall, A. (2013). An Ethnographic Study of Men Fathering Children With
Disabilities. University of Soutern California.
2. Bragiel, J., & Kaniok, P. E. (2014). Demographic variables and fathers’ involvement
with their child with disabilities. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs,
14(1), 43–50. http://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12005
3. Darling, C. A., Senatore, N., & Strachan, J. (2012). Fathers of children with disabilities:
Stress
and
life
satisfaction.
Stress
and
Health,
28(4),
269–278.
http://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1427
4. Shandra, C. L., Hogan, D. P., & Spearin, C. E. (2008). Parenting a child with a disability:
an examination of resident and non-resident fathers. Journal of Population Research
(Canberra, A.C.T.), 25(3), 357–377. http://doi.org/10.1007/BF03033895.PARENTING
Martyna Pilas
University of Gdańsk, Poland
Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Education
Tripartite school conflicts
autoethnographic analysis.
and
non-consensual
democracy.
An
attempt
of
Keywords: conflict, parents, teachers, students, non-consensual democracy
The article presents an analysis of four school conflicts on the parent-teacher line. I am trying
to prove that the teacher-parental conflict is always actively involved with the student, with his
paidocentric position in the family, subjectivity and authority as the third party in the process
of democratic dialogue (B. Śliwerski 2007). I use the analytical autoethnography method, the
most appropriate from my point of view, based on a subjective approach, the analysis of feelings
and reactions, self-observation, first-person narrative, analysis of the researcher's notes and own
narratives, forcing the full participant in the studied environment (complete member
researcher), analytical reflexivity, data transcending. (C. Ellis 2004, L. Anderson 2014).
The school in my article is perceived as a place of conflict which is an unobvious expression of
democratic dissent and a difficult way of achieving commonality, which is a condition of
democracy. The conflict is an indispensable social element and the basis of relations of
subjective character, characteristic of democratic forms of social life (Rancière 1999, Coser
2009).
Confronting this with knowledge developed around the idea of non-consensual democracy,
which is based on discord (dissensus) after the reading (J.Rancière 1999, L. A. Coser 2009,
G.Biesta 2015, L.Koczanowicz 2015, K. Wajszczyk 2015, P. Młynek 2010, M. Mendel 2001)
I assume that not only the occurrence of conflicts is a problem, but the lack of orientation on
the positive meaning of the situation of disagreement and attitudes related to attaining it and
ensuring equality for others in the practice of dialoging participants in school life.
References:
1. Anderson, L. (2014). Autoetnografia analityczna. Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej
10(3), 144-167.
2. Biesta, G. (2015). What is Education For? On Good Education, Teacher Judgement, and
Educational Professionalism. European Journal of Education., 50(1), 75-87.
doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12109
3. Coser, L. A. (2009). Funkcje konfliktu społecznego. Trans. S. Burdziej. Kraków,
Poland: Zakład wydawniczy "Nomos".
4. Ellis, C. (2004). The Ethnographic I : A Methodological Novel about Autoethnography.
Walnut Creek, California: Altamira Press.
5. Koczanowicz, L. (2015), Polityka dialogu. Demokracja niekonsensualna i wspólnota
krytyczna. Trans. K. Liszka. Warszawa, Poland: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
6. Mendel, M. (2001). Edukacja społeczna : partnerstwo rodziny, szkoły i gminy w
perspektywie amerykańskiej. Toruń, Poland: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek.
7. Młynek, P. (2010). Komunikacja rodziców i nauczycieli drogą do podmiotowego
traktowania ucznia. Podstawy Edukacji, 3, 301-307.
8. Rancière, J. (1999). Dis-agrement. Politics and Philosophy. Trans. by J. Rose,
University of Minessota Press, Minneapollis-London.
9. Śliwerski, B.(2007). Pedagogika Dziecka. Studium Pajdocentryzmu. Gdańsk, Poland:
Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne.
10. Wajszczyk, K. (2015). Konflikt w szkole. Studium etnograficzne. Gdańsk, Poland:
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego.
Łukasz Remisiewicz
Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Journalism
University of Gdańsk, Poland
Interaction Ritual Chains Approach to Transferring Children’s Knowledge between
School and Family
Keywords: interaction rituals, symbols, memory, neurosociology, emotions
In the talk, I would like to bridge the theoretical gap between the body of literature about
educational inequalities that describe macro-patterns and ethnographical studies of learning and
education. I follow the way of Randall Collins which said that “social structure is nothing more,
on the most fine-grained empirical level than repeated patterns of face-to-face interaction”. To
understand educational inequalities better than by indicating abstract explanations of “parents
habitus” and “cultural capital”, one should create theoretical frames that make it easy to capture
the patterns of interactions. I would like to make a sketch of such a frame on the basis of
interaction ritual chains theory (Collins 2005; Collins 1998).
From an interactional point of view, educational inequalities are emerging when the
performance of one child is formally assessed as worse than the performance of another child.
The performance, including answering on the teacher’s questions, writing the essays, filling the
standardized tests, is using of ideas, knowledge, and skills previously acquired from other
interactions – lessons or learning being alone, that would be collectively called symbols.
Symbols are circulating from interaction to interaction, and their distribution is depending on
different factors such as the flow of emotional energy, mutual attention, and spatial borders.
People that acquired symbols through emotionally-loaded interaction want to share them and
are trying to transfer them to another interaction, so are trying to use them. This is the reason
why family, and especially parents, are so important. The family is the second, the largest, the
dimension of children’s interaction. Symbols that are exchanging with family could be suitable,
or not, with those that are acquired in school. If symbols from school are useless in the long
term, they are systematically forgotten and interaction in schools became processing of symbols
at idling speed.
In the talk, I would like to refer this theoretical frame to empirical data, quantitative, qualitative
and neurological, as well as to specify in more details how it could be further developed.
References:
Collins, Randall. 1998. Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change:
Harvard University Press.
Collins, Randall. 2005. Interaction ritual chains. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Elizabeth Rouse
Deakin University, Australia
Teachers working in hospitals – what do partnerships look like?
Keywords: Teachers in hospital; Early years; Family partnerships; Social ecology; Rogoff’s
planes of analysis
Partnerships are one of the key practice principles guiding the practice of early years teachers
in Australia. Both the professional standards for teachers (AITSL, 2011) and the national early
years learning framework (DEEWR, 2009) identifies teachers’ roles in working with parents
and other professionals, and in create environments where children and families are actively
encouraged to collaborate with educators about children’s learning. However for teachers
working with children in hospital, establishing and maintaining partnerships are challenged due
to the complexities which arise when children and families are faced with serious, and at time
life threatening, illnesses. This paper will present the preliminary findings of a project
undertaken with teachers working in large paediatric hospital in Australia, which explored their
perceptions of the relationships they develop with families as they reflect notions of partnership.
Drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s social ecological model (1979) the project was guided by the
following research questions:
What are the nature of the relationships between early years teachers working with children and
families in hospital as they reflect a notion of partnership?
What impacts early years teachers working with children and families in hospital in developing
effective partnerships with children and families?
A qualitative case study methodology was used for the study in which four early years teachers
working in the hospital setting participated in an individual interview which explored their
perceptions of the relationships they have with families of children who were patients at the
hospital. Using Rogoff’s three planes of analysis (2o08), what emerged was that the teachers
saw their role in supporting the children’s learning whilst in hospital as important, and forming
relationships with families as a key component of their work. The teachers strongly identified
that whilst they developed positive relationships with the families, it was the value that parents
placed on education that created the context for them to work effectively as partners in the
child’s learning. The teachers also acknowledged that their role as teachers was valued by
hospital staff, however there was minimal engagement with other professionals in relation to
sharing of information and transdisciplinary planning.
References:
1. Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2011). Australian
professional
standards
for
teachers.
Retrieved
https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/apstresources/australian_professional_standard_for_teachers_final.pdf
from:
2. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development : experiments by nature
and design. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
3. Department of Education Employment and Workforce Development. (2009).
Belonging, Being and Becoming – The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia.
Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth Government of Australia.
4. Rogoff, B. (2008). Obserserving sociocultural activity on three planes: participatory
appropriation, guided participation and apprenticeship. In K Hall, P Murphy & J Soler
(eds), Pedagogy and practice- culture and identities (pp 58 – 74). London: Sage.
Elizabeth Rouse
Deakin University, Australia
Fay Hadley
Macquarie University, Australia
Examining parent partnerships in early childhood settings from multiple stakeholders Listening to parents, educators, teachers, directors and principals
Keywords: partnerships, families, multiple perspectives, educators
In Australia, early childhood and primary school settings recognise the important role of
teachers in engaging in partnerships with families. Policies and curriculum documents support
the importance of parent partnerships. Researchers, both nationally and internationally, have
identified engaging with families as critical to ensuring optimum educational outcomes for
children (Emerson, Fear, Fox & Sanders, 2012; Topor, Keane, Shelton & Calkins, 2010).
However, the family-school engagement literature lacks consensus on what this means, fails to
provide a clear definition (Bakker and Denesson, 2007) and often measures something that is
not understood or valued by families from diverse backgrounds (Whitmarsh, 2011). Sen
suggests that “development consists of the removal of various types of unfreedoms that leave
people with little choice and little opportunity of exercising their reasoned agency” (1999,
p.xii). The researchers worked with five diverse early childhood settings to examine how
educators engaged with parents to remove “unfreedoms” and recognise their power and agency.
A mixed methods approach, specifically explanatory sequential design (Creswell & PlanoClark, 2011) was chosen for this study as there was a need for both quantitative and qualitative
data collection and analysis to explore the complexity of parent partnerships. Phase 1 utilised
current validated tools that measured parent involvement (Epstein and Salina, 1993 &
Gehlbach, Mapp & Weissbourd, 2012) and stakeholder interviews with parents, educators and
setting leaders to draw out existing and differing perceptions. Phase 2 included a practitioner
inquiry project to empower parents and educators. This paper aims to challenge current
paradigms of partnerships including moving beyond instrumentilsation of partnership practice
as historically research often positions parents as the deficit or the problem. Preliminary
findings of the study suggest that the educators recognised the need to shift the power from the
setting to the parent and remove “unfreedoms”. This shift resulted in parents feeling validated,
respected and empowered. These findings provide an opportunity for researchers and
practitioners to challenge their perspectives and practices of parent partnerships and to theorise
and critique current approaches.
References:
1. Bakker J., & Denessen, E. (2007). The concept of parent involvement: Some theoretical
and empirical considerations. International Journal about Parents in Education, 1, p.
188–199.
2. Creswell, J.W. and Plano Clark, V.L. (2011). Designing and Conducting Mixed
Methods Research. 2nd Edition, Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
3. Emerson, L., Fear, J., Fox, S., & Sanders, E. (2012). Parental engagement in learning
and schooling: Lessons from research. A report by the Australian Research Alliance for
Children and Youth (ARACY) for the Family-School and Community Partnerships
Bureau. Canberra: Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth.
4. Epstein, J.L. & Salinas, C. (1993). School and Family Partnerships: Survey of Teachers.
John Hopkins University, Center on Families, Communities, Schools and Children,
Baltimore. Maryland
5. Gehlbach, H., Mapp, K. & Weissbourd, R. (2012). Parent Survey Questions –
Family/School Relationships Survey. Harvard Graduate School of Education.
6. Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7. Topor, D., Keane, S.P., Shelton, T.L., & Calkins, S.D. (2010). Parent Involvement and
Student Academic Performance: A Multiple Mediational Analysis, Journal of
Prevention
&
Intervention
in
the
Community,
38:3,
183-197,
DOI:
10.1080/10852352.2010.486297
8. Whitmarsh, J. (2011). Othered voices: Asylum-seeking mothers and early years
education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(4), p. 535‒551
Sandra Ryan
Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland
Tracking Pre-service Teacher Attitudes to and Sense of Efficacy in Relation to Family
Engagement
Keywords: pre-service teacher education; family engagement; family-school-community
partnerships; parental involvement
The need for professional development of teachers in relation to family-school collaboration
has been established by researchers for over twenty years (Shartrand et al, 1997) in the USA
(Epstein, 2013; Evans, 2013; Epstein and Sanders, 2006), Australasia (e.g., Saltmarsh, Barr and
Chapman, 2014) and in Europe (Willemse et al, 2016; 2018). However, despite increased
legislation requiring schools and teachers to adopt a partnership approach in their work as well
as the introduction of accreditation requirements for teachers, changes in teacher education
courses have been slow. It is common worldwide that most teacher education programmes do
little to prepare teachers to establish relationships with parents or to pay attention to the place
and voice of parents in their children’s schooling (Pushor and Ciufferelli Parker, 2013; Weiss,
Kreider, Lopez, and Chatman, 2005; ). The few studies on teacher preparation for family
engagement in European countries (Willemse et al, 2016) indicate that teacher education
programmes pay little attention to familyschool collaboration (de Bruine et al, 2014; Willemse
et al, 2016). Likewise in Ireland to date there has been little preparation of preservice teachers
for engaging parents in their children’s school learning.
Drawing on Epstein’s theoretical framework of parental involvement, this research aims to
document the knowledge, skills and attitudes of a group of Irish pre-service teachers before
they undertook a course on family engagement and immediately after the course. The study will
follow up with them after a year of teaching along these lines. This paper will present the
preliminary findings from a questionnaire completed by a group of student teachers in Ireland
in Spring 2019. The questionnaire elicited their knowledge, skills and attitudes about family
engagement before and after they took a course on working with families.
Analysis and interpretation of data from participants should (a) enhance our understanding of
student teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes towards family engagement, (b) expand ways
to support beginning teachers in developing their family engagement practices, and (c) inform
the development of courses in initial teacher education and continuing professional
development.
References:
1. de Bruine, Erica J., Willemse, T. Martijn, D’Haem, Jeanne, Griswold, Peter,
Vloeberghs, Lijne, & van Eynde, Sofie. (2014). Preparing teacher candidates for familyschool partnerships. European Journal of Teacher Education, 37(4), 409-425.
2. Epstein, Joyce L. (2013). Issues of Equity: Taking Research on Partnership Program
Development to Scale in Practice. International Journal about Parents in Education,
7(2), II-III.
3. Epstein, Joyce L, & Sanders, Mavis G. (2006). Prospects for Change: Preparing
Educators for School, Family, and Community Partnerships. Peabody Journal of
Education, 81(2), 81-120.
4. Evans, Michael P. (2013). Educating preservice teachers for family, school, and
community engagement. Teaching Education, 24(2), 123-133.
5. Pushor, Debbie, & Ciuffetelli Parker, Darlene. (2013). Reformation of Storied
Assumptions of Parents and Poverty. International Journal about Parents in Education,
7(2), 164-176.
6. Saltmarsh, Sue, Barr, Jenny, & Chapman, Amy. (2014). Preparing for parents: how
Australian teacher education is addressing the question of parent-school engagement.
Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 35(1), 69-84.
7. Shartrand, A, Weiss, Heather, Kreider, Holly, & Lopez, M. Elena. (1997). New Skills
for New Schools: Preparing Teachers in Family Involvement. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Education.
8. Weiss, Heather B., Kreider, Holly, Lopez, M. Elena, & Chatman, Celina M. (Eds.).
(2005). Preparing Educators to Involve Families: from Theory to Practice. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
9. Willemse, T. Martijn, Vloeberghs, Lijne, de Bruine, Erica J., & Van Eynde, Sofie.
(2016). Preparing teachers for family-school partnerships: a Dutch and Belgian
perspective. Teaching Education, 27(2), 212-228.
10. Willemse, T. Martijn, Thompson, Ian, Vanderlinde, Ruben & Mutton, Trevor. (2018).
Familyschool partnerships: a challenge for teacher education. Journal of Education for
Teaching, 44(3), 252-257. DOI: 10.1080/02607476.2018.1465545.
Alicja R. Sadownik
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
Kindergarten Knowledge Center for Systemic Research and Sustainable Futures
Cake as a manifestation of (the lack of) family agency in the context of (pre)school
Keywords: cake, parental agency, parental involvement, school, ECEC
Agency, no matter if individual or collective, is always performed in relation to other actors,
and, therefore, in a public space. Thus, it requires certain practices of representation and the
materialization of agents’ participation in the public sphere. The representation involves
“becoming public” in a form of collective/togetherness where “action is possible and freedom
can appear” (Biesta, 2012). While, the materialization refers to the level of artefacts that can
both mediate (Henning & Kirova 2012) and objectify the activity/agency performed (ArroyoKalin 2004, Barad 2003).
In this paper I focus on a special form of the materialization of parental agency – cake. During
the Polish subnetwork of ERNAPE, both the teachers, parents, researchers, and municipal
representatives mentioned the “cake” (most often baked by the parents). It seemed to involve a
diverse array of emotional reactions that range from expressions of gladness that families are
doing something at (pre)school to cynical laugher about cake as pretend involvement or the
materialization of (pre)school disagreement over greater parental involvement in the content of
education and care institutions.
In this text I examine cake entering the (pre)school through the eyes of the parents living in
different cultural contexts and sharing their experiences of “cake” and “(pre)school” on parental
internet discussion forums conducted in Polish, Norwegian, and Danish. Thus, I use
netnography (Kozinets 2015) as a method for generating our research material, which is then
analyzed with qualitative content analysis (Mayring 2010).
The results show that cake can manifest both a sense of agency as well as the lack of it following
the “imperative of harmony” (that many parents experience as a demand constructed by both
the institution of (pre)school as well as other parents) and as a way of interrupting and resisting
it. In the concluding remarks, I focus primarily on the conditions for family interruptions in the
context of (pre)school and on the intergenerational character of them. By interruptions I refer
to Biesta’s definition of introducing “an incommensurable element – an event, and experience
and an object – that can act both as a test and as a reminder of publicness” (Biesta, 2012:693).
References:
1. Arroyo-Kalin, M. A. (2004). An Ongoing Outcome, a Surrounding World: Materiality,
Agency and History. In: E. DeMarrais, Ch. Godsen & C. Renfrew, Rethinking
materiality: the engagement of mind with the material world. Oxford: McDonald
Institute for Archaeological Research, 73-83.
2. Barad, K. (2003). Posthumanist Performativity: Towards and Understanding of How
Matter Comes to Matter. Signs, Vol. 28/2. Gender and Science: New Issues, 801-831.
3. Biesta G. (2012): Becoming public: public pedagogy, citizenship and the public sphere,
Social & Cultural Geography, 13(7), 683-697.
4. Henning, K., Kirova, A. (2012). The Role of Cultural Artefacts in Play as Tools to
Mediate Learning in an Intercultural Preschool Programme. Contemporary Issues in
Early Childhood, 13(3), 226-241.
5. Kozinets, R.V. (2015). Netnography: Redefined. 2nd Edition. Los Angeles -London –
New Dehli – Singapore – Washington – Boston: SAGE.
6. Mayring, P. (2000). Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative Social Research, Vol.
1(2), Art. 20.
Maria Fernanda dos Santos Martins
Departament of Social Sciences of Education
Institute of Education
University of Minho, Portugal
School websites and parents: a new interaction reality?
Key words: websites of school, parents, communication and participation
The introduction of the new technologies of communication and information contributes to the
emergence of new interaction channels, the so-called channels of technological
communication. (Garreta Bochaca & Macìa Bordalba, 2017). In school too, in the long and
complex march from clip to click (Fernandez Enguita and Vázques Cupeiro, 2017), we are
assisting to the emergence of these channels and, in this scope, we are particularly interested in
the reconfigurations at work in the way parents communicate and participate in school settings.
Faced with this reality, we question whether these new forms of interaction are a contribution
to informing and committing parents in their children's school or if, on the contrary, they induce
a conception of progenitors while consumers, with a passive role in the decisions of the school
organization. Starting with these assumptions, we conducted an exploratory research, based on
a specific technological means, the websites of school groupings in Portugal. Specifically, from
different criteria, we selected a small set of groupings of schools and conducted a content
analysis to their websites. In our analysis, we confined ourselves to some categories, such as: i)
the grouping having, or not, a website; ii) the website contemplating, or not, a forum for parents
to communicate with the school, namely a space for suggestions and complaints, and finally,
iii) the website of the grouping having a space for the dissemination of information regarding
Parent and Guardian Associations. From this small research, which is still in a process of getting
more in-depth conclusions, we have drawn provisionally the following trend: websites do not
constitute, in most of the grouping of schools studied, an instrument that enables and encourages
the voice of the parents; that is, they do not present, in addition to their informational role, in a
unidirectional sense, a communicative-participatory function between the parents and
guardians and the school.
References:
1. Enguita-Fernandez, M. & Cupeiro, V. (2017). La larga e compleja marcha del clip al
clic; escuel y professorado ante el nuevo entorno digital. Espanha: Telefónica
Fundacion /Ariel, S.
2. Garreta Bochaca, J. & Macìa Bordalba, M. (2017). La comunicación familia-escuela.
In J. Garreta Bochaca (coord). Familia y Escuelas: discursos Y Práticas Sobre La
Participación en La Escuela. Madrid: Biblioteca Universitária, pp.71-98.
Paweł Seroka
Ateneum – University in Gdansk, Poland
How to be a better parent than the one I had? "Good" parenthood in the era of late
modernity - an analysis of a single biography
Keywords: “good” parent discourse, reflexivity, late modernity, biography
Assuming that we live in a time of late modernity (Beck, Giddens & Lash, 2009;
Giddens, 2012), the author claims that one of the most important competencies of people in
today's society is their reflexivity. Gradually, more areas of our everyday life, including
parenthood, are subjected to reflection. The "good" parent project, as part of the reflexively
constructed identity, is very often built in opposition to the vision of "toxic" parenthood
(Forward, 1996),
The main language applied to describe the “good” parent is the therapeutic discourse,
largely based on the psychological expert systems (Beck, 2009). In "therapeutic culture" (Illouz,
2008, 2010) an “self" is embedded in his childhood, while the relationship with their parents,
provide an explanation for adulthood. An adult person who understands his personality in such
a way, gives a powerful rank to parenthood, so that when they decide to become a parent, they
raise the reflective question: How not to be the "toxic" parent? The collision of two models of
parenting - socialized (included in the biography) and secondarily reflexively acquired (expert
knowledge) - can create the distinct tension for young parents.
In accordance with the Polish researcher Danuta Urbaniak-Zając (Urbaniak-Zając,
2005), the author acknowledges that what appears in the biography of an individual may be a
manifestation of wider social processes, therefore a biographical study, allows us to deepen our
understanding of the socio-cultural processes we are currently undergoing. In accordance with
these beliefs, the author, based on the analysis of a single biography, intends to present the
already mentioned tensions, regarding to parenthood. The presented biography, as an element
of the author’s broader research, will concern an adult person brought up in a family with an
alcohol problem - that is, a person with the Adult Children of Alcoholics syndrome (ACoA).
On the one hand, people with ACoA very often perceive their parents as "toxic", which means
that in adulthood they strive to pursue a different model of parenthood; on the other hand, these
people, who undergo psychotherapy, acquire knowledge of expert systems that increases
tensions between what is socialized and what is reflexively acquired.
References:
1. Beck, U., Giddens, A., & Lash, S. (1994). Reflexive Modernization. Stanford University
Press
2. Forward, S. (1990). Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming
Your Life. Bantam Books Ltd.
3. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern
Age. Stanford University Press.
4. Illouz, E. (2008). Saving the modern soul. Therapy, emotions, and the culture of selfhelp. Berkeley: University of California Press.
5. Illouz, E. (2007).Cold Intimacies. The Making of Emotional Capitalism. Polity Press.
6. Urbaniak-Zając D. (2005). Pedagogiczna perspektywa w badaniach narracyjnobiograficznych, [w.] L. Koczanowicz i inni (red.), „Narracja – (auto)biografia - etyka”,
Wrocław.
Chrysa Keung
Centre for University & School Partnership, Faculty of Education
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Angela Siu
Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Intracultural differences in parental beliefs and practices toward children’s play
Keywords: Parental beliefs, parental involvement, play, young children, intracultural
differences
Play is essential to young children’s learning and development. Previous studies provided
strong evidence on the value of play in acquisition of cognitive, social and emotional skills in
early childhood (Ginsburg, 2007; Kemple, 2017; Cohen & Mendez, 2009). These studies noted
the important of adopting play-based learning strategy in kindergarten context, but less is
known about parents’ play beliefs and practices at home. Indeed, parent-reported is not always
evident in the current study. Unlike Western culture, the dichotomy between play and learning
remain ambiguous in Chinese parents’ understanding of play. In addition to the differential
parents’ beliefs across cultures, conflicting views about the conception of play also occurred
within cultures (Fisher, Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, & Gryfe, 2008; LaForett & Mendez, 2017;
Parmar, Harkness, & Super, 2004). Using qualitative method, this study aims to understand
Hong Kong parents’ perceptions toward the nature and purpose of play, investigate how they
structure the home for play with their children aged between 3 to 6 years and the extent of
parents engaging in children’s play.
Upon interviewing with forty parents, they believed that play was an important vehicle for
whole child development which led to benefits of learning for young children. Findings further
revealed diverse understandings of play and patterns of participation in children’s play between
two groups of Hong Kong parents. One group of parents defined play as child-initiated
activities, they were likely to provide with children’s constructive and interactive play at home.
While another group of parents had educational/ learning-oriented beliefs, they were more
valued play as an instrumental use of developing children’s various skills. However, some
parents’ play beliefs were not actually acted in their practices. Gaps between parents’ beliefs
and practices play at home are found through parents reporting.
This study contributes to collect first-hand parent data about their perceptions of play.
Results of the study reflected the intracultural differences in play beliefs among Hong Kong
parents. It may imply the need of developing effective strategies and supportive family
environments to enhance parental understanding of play and learning. Results also extended
our knowledge by understanding the degree and pattern of parental involvement in play
activities.
References:
1. Cohen, J. S., & Mendez, J. L. (2009). Emotion regulation, language ability, and the
stability of preschool children’s peer play behavior. Early Education and Development,
20(6), 1016-37.
2. Fisher, K., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Gryfe, S. G. (2008). Conceptual spilt?
Parents’ and experts’ perceptions of play in the 21st century. Journal of Applied
Developmental Psychology, 29, 305-16.
3. Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development
and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-91.\
4. Kemple, K. M. (2017). Planning for play: Strategies for guiding preschool learning.
London: Pearson.
5. LaForett, D., & Mendez, J. L. (2017). Children’s engagement in play at home: A
parent’s role in supporting play opportunities during early childhood. Early Child
Development and Care, 187(5-6), 910-23.
6. Parmar, P. Harkness, S., & Super, C. M. (2004). Asian and Euro-American parents’
ethnotheories of play and learning: Effects on preschool children’s home routines and
behaviors. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28(2), 97-104.
Barbara Smolińska-Theiss
Anna Górka-Strzałkowska
Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, Poland
Parent - difficult partner for the teacher. From the research on an innovative project in
the school in Ursynów
Keywords: school, teachers, research project, innovation, cooperation, change
The article refers to an innovative project introduced in the school in Ursynów which
was presented in the central press under the slogan of the school that does not give homework.
At the beginning, it aroused a great interest of parents, local self-government, local and central
press. It was based on extended activities of both teachers and parents that in fact went beyond
the topic of homework.
There has been a lot of talk about the school in Ursynów. On the one hand, there were
words of support, recognition for innovation, idea, head teacher. On the other hand, conflicting
goals and actions have become more and more apparent. Some parents did not accept school
innovations and also some teachers protested against additional duties. The conflict was
growing around the project and at the same time a new version of the innovative didactic and
educational program was slowly arising. The need to build a new model of cooperation between
the school and parents and the local community became more and more apparent.
The school turned to the Academy of Special Education for assistance in the activities
of connecting parents, teachers, educational authorities and the local environment. The task was
taken by PhD students and APS employees as a part of the methodology of quantitative and
qualitative research. The research is to show the readiness of parents and teachers to introduce
school innovations, to reveal values and stereotypes of parents and teachers about raising
children and functioning of the school. As a result, it is to show how much it is possible to build
a school community of teachers and parents. The initial diagnosis of this problem is based on
scales and measurements.
In the first stage of the research (March 2019) a survey for teachers was conducted. In
June this year we will turn to parents with almost the same questions. In the designed
presentation submitted to ERNAP, we will present a comparison of the statements of both
groups.
Talitha Stam
Renske Keizer
Nicole Lucassen
Roel van Steensel
Brian Godor
Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
Mariette Lusse
Hogeschool Rotterdam, Netherlands
The role of Parent Involvement Workers to increase both home-based and school-based
parental involvement in a disadvantage neighbourhood in Rotterdam
Keywords: Parental Involvement, home-based involvement, school-based involvement, Parent
Involvement Worker (PIW), primary schools.
Talitha Stam will be presenting.
A great deal of research has been done into parental involvement, which has shown, among
other things, that home-based involvement is the most effective form of parental involvement
for the development of the child (Lusse et al., 2019, Bakker et al., 2013). In this paper, we
elaborate on Epstein's (2001) typologies on Parental Involvement for a theoretical
understanding of both home-based and school-based parental involvement. In the Netherlands,
Parent Involvement Workers (PIW) have specifically been deployed to increase parental
involvement in disadvantaged primary schools. PIWs organise various social and learning
activities for parents, such as morning coffees to meet other parents as well as computer lessons
in specially allocated parents’ rooms in the schools. Up until now little scientific research has
been done into the role of PIW.
In an explorative field study at six disadvantage primary schools in Rotterdam, the Netherlands,
we examine to what extent PIWs are able to increase both home-based and school-based
parental involvement. For this, in each school we held focus group discussions with 6-8 (n=30)
teachers, focus group discussions with 8-10 (n=50) parents in parents’ rooms, interviews with
4 PIWs, and did weekly observations during parents’ activities in the schools. Our findings
indicate that parents’ activities organised by PIWs to some extend did increase the school-based
involvement for those parents who participated in the activities, as they were more frequently
in the schools. But it did not increase their home-based involvement, which was proven to be
crucial for the development of the child. An explanation could be that activities in parents’
rooms were not well connected with learning goals in children’ classrooms.
References:
1. Bakker, J., Denessen, E., Dennissen, M., & Oolbekkink-Marchand, H. (2013). Leraren
en ouderbetrokkenheid. Een reviewstudie naar de effectiviteit van ouderbetrokkenheid
en de rol die leraren hierbij vervullen (a review study to the effectiveness of parental
involvement and the role of teachers). Nijmegen: Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen.
2. Epstein, J.L. (2001) School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Preparing
Educators and Improving Schools. Boulder, CO Westview Press.
3. Lusse, M., Notten, T., Engbersen, G. (2019). School–family partnership procedures in
urban secondary education. Part A: Strengths and limitations. School Community
Journal.
Bonnie L. Stelmach
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Rural, secondary school parents’ sense of community: Insights from Alberta, Canada
Keywords: rural, secondary school, sense of community, Canada
The topic of parents in rural secondary schools is a ground that has been lightly treaded
compared to urban elementary school contexts. And although more research attention is being
paid to secondary school contexts (e.g. Seitsinger, 2019; Watson & Bogotch, 2015), Semke and
Sheridan’s (2012) review of research on rural parent involvement reported only 18 studies. My
study objectives were to (1) contribute to a rural-specific empirical base regarding parents’
relationships with schools, and (2) reconceptualize secondary school parents’ experiences
through the notion of community. The latter aim is a response to research that suggests
secondary school parents feel displaced, unwanted, and unneeded (Author, 2013). The
commonly used term, parent involvement, tends to index elementary school traditional
activities (e.g. volunteering, helping with homework), which fails to capture parents’ roles or
interests beyond primary grades.
Inspired by Bauman’s (2001) claim that community is a word that has a ‘feel,’ I aimed for
insight into the (non)communal nature of parents’ experiences as members of the school
community. I utilized sense of community theory (McMillan & Chavis, 1986), which is framed
by four dimensions: belonging, purpose, influence, and connection. The study was conducted
in Alberta, Canada, where the Ministry of Education has mandated through a Professional
Practice Standard (2018) that teachers and principals foster effective relationships with parents.
I individually interviewed 21 rural parents, and held focus groups with parents at three rural
schools. To be confident regarding rural-specific findings, I followed up with individual
interviews with 13 urban parents throughout the province. There were striking differences
between rural and urban parents’ sense of community, and nuances worth discussing in both
contexts. For rural parents, community is experiential; for urban parents, community is
instrumental. Community fulfills an emotional need for rural parents, and urban parents’ needs
from the school are cognitive. Importantly, I learned the danger of assuming that rural spaces
are cozy and comfortable through the concept of “legacy families”—those families who have
lived in the community and attended the school for generations, and who knowingly and
unknowingly inherit the power to reinforce time-honored boundaries of belonging.
References:
1. Alberta Education. (2018). Professional Practice Standard. Retrieved from
https://education.alberta.ca/professional-practice-standards/?searchMode=3
2. Author. (2013).
3. Bauman, Z. (2001). Community: Seeking safety in an insecure world. Cambridge, UK:
Polity Press.
4. McMillan, D. W., & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and
theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 6 – 23.
5. Seitsinger, A. M. (2019). Examining the effect of family engagement on middle and
high school students’ academic achievement and adjustment. In S. B. Sheldon and T.
A. Turner-Vorbeck (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of family, school and community
relationships in education (pp. 163 – 182). Hoboken, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
6. Semke, C. A., & Sheridan, S. M. (2012). Family-school connections in rural educational
settings: A systematic review of the empirical literature. School Community Journal,
22(1), 21 – 47.
7. Watson, T. N., & Bogotch, I. (2015). Reframing parent involvement: What should urban
school leaders do differently? Leadership and Policy in Schools, 14(3), 257 – 278. doi:
10.1080/15700763.2015.1024327
Monique Strijk
Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
Mariëtte Lusse
Erik van Schooten
Ellen Klatter
Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands.
Marinka Kuijpers
Open University, Netherlands
Predicting Career-specific Parental Behaviour
Keywords: Parental support, school-family partnership, career development, adolescent
Monique Strijk will be presenting.
Adolescence is a very important period for student’s careers. Ideally during this period students
develop career competencies (Kuijpers & Scheerens, 2006) that help them shape their career
paths. During this process students can benefit from supportive career-specific parental
behaviour (Diemer, 2007; Dietrich & Kracke, 2009). However, not all parents know how to
best support their child’s career development (Sage, 2004). Guiding parents in this process can
help improve the career development of students (Whiston & Keller, 2004). Although it has
been suggested that schools could play a role in offering this guidance (Lusse, Engbersen, &
Notten, 2019), there is little empirical evidence on how this can be achieved.
Following Dietrich and Kracke (2009) we distinguished three types of parental career behaviour
styles: the supportive style, the interfering style, and the lack of engagement style. The main
question guiding this study is: what is the influence of parents’ perceptions of the school-family
partnership on parental career behaviour styles? In our analyses we took into account important
factors that can be influenced by the school: student and parent perceptions of parental career
involvement (e.g., Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005) and the parent-child relationship.
We collected data by conducting questionnaires among pre-vocational secondary education
students (722) and their parents (181). After establishing model fit and performing reliability
analyses on our questionnaires, we conducted multilevel regression analyses
Our results show that parents who experience a stronger school-family partnership provide their
children with career-related support more often. A conflictual parent-child relationship
predicted parental interference behaviour and lack of engagement. This study also shows that
student’ perceptions of parental career involvement is related to the career-specific parental
behaviour. Overall, this study strengthens the hypothesis that schools play a significant role in
career related parental support.
References:
1. Diemer, M. A. (2007). Parental and school influences upon the career development of
poor youth of color. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70(3), 502-524.
2. Dietrich, J., & Kracke, B. (2009). Career-specific parental behaviors in adolescents’
development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75(2), 109-119.
3. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., Walker, J. M., Sandler, H. M., Whetsel, D., Green, C. L.,
Wilkins, A. S., & Closson, K. (2005). Why do parents become involved? Research
findings and implications. The elementary school journal, 106(2), 105-130.
4. Kuijpers, M. A. C. T., & Scheerens, J. (2006). Career competencies for the modern
career. Journal of career development, 32(4), 303-319.
5. Lusse, M., Notten, T. & Engbersen, G. (in press). The functioning of school-family
partnership procedures in urban secondary education. Strengths and limitations. School
Community Journal.
6. Sage, H. (2004). The important role of parents in their teen's career development. In S.
Wakefield, H. Sage, D. Coy & T. Palmer (Eds.), Unfocused kids: Helping students to
focus on their education and career plans (pp. 349-359). Greensboro, NC: CAPS Press
and the American Counseling Association Foundation.
7. Whiston, S. C., & Keller, B. K. (2004). The influences of the family of origin on career
development: A review and analysis. The Counseling Psychologist, 32(4), 493-568.
Mirjam Stroetinga
Marnix University for Applied Sciences, Utrecht, Netherlands
Primary school teachers’ practices of and thinking about collaborating with parents on
upbringing
Keywords: Teacher parent collaboration; upbringing; teacher education; teacher thinking;
values
In this paper results of an empirical research on teacher-parent collaboration on upbringing are
presented. The research questions concerned the topics teachers mention when being asked
about collaborating with parents on upbringing; teachers’ collaboration practices; and related
teacher thinking. These are relevant research topics, since in teacher education learning to
collaborate on upbringing is a neglected subject, and todays’ world faces growing complexities
such as decreasing social connectedness and a lack of diversity appreciation.
Upbringing in this study is understood as adults’ support to children’s personal development.
The term ‘adults’ refers to upbringing as a common effort of both parents and teachers. Teachers
contribute to upbringing explicitly and implicitly, through what they teach and the way they
teach and through their influence on the classroom climate and social relations, and their
personal professional relation with the child(ren) (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977; Veugelers, 2010).
From an ecological approach to human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) teacher-parent
collaboration on upbringing is of interest.
A narrative research method of letter writing was used, following the example of McKenna and
Millen (2013). Primary school teachers were invited to write a letter to a hypothetical preservice teacher about their collaboration practices and related thinking. Thirty-four letters were
gathered, from a heterogeneous group of teachers and schools. Analysis was done using Atlas
Ti, and concerned the topics and experiences of collaborating with parents on upbringing
teachers described and the teachers’ values in relation to upbringing and to collaborating with
parents on upbringing.
Findings are that teachers come across issues related to upbringing frequently; upbringing
issues refer to the ‘learning to behave-’ and the ‘learning to be-’aspects of personal development
in their daily teaching and care; these issues puzzle teachers, especially when value positions
of the teacher and parent involved differ. Analysis of teacher values regarding collaboration
and upbringing resulted in distinguishing three teacher-types, to be outlined in the presentation:
teachers mainly focussed on information exchange, on reaching practical agreements or on
reflecting on their own values.
References:
1. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments of nature
and design. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
2. Kohlberg, L., & Hersh, R.H. (1977). Moral development: A review of the theory.
Theory Into Practice, 26(2), 53-59. doi: 10.1080/00405847709542675
3. McKenna, M.K., & Millen, J. (2013). Look! Listen! Learn! Parent narratives and
grounded theory models of parent voice, presence, and engagement in k-12 education.
School
Community
Journal,
23(1),
9-48.
Retrieved
from:
http://www.adi.org/journal/2013ss/McKennaMillenSpring2013.pdf
4. Veugelers, W. (2010). Moral values in teacher education. In: P. Peterson, E. Baker, &
B. McGaw (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education, 650-655. Oxford: Elsevier.
Przemysław Szczygieł
ATENEUM - Szkoła Wyższa w Gdańsku, Poland
Protesting parents as a significant social and educational phenomenon. Andragogical
inspirations
Keywords: socialization, protest, parents, biography, learning
The aim of the presentation is to show the problem of protesting parents as an element of a
wider research on the learning potential of rebellion. This thread appeared as one of the
elements of the category called socialization to rebellion (Szczygieł, 2018).
The purpose of author’s broader project is, inter alia, to describe and understand the learning
mechanisms of adults participating in various forms of rebellion. The subject of research is the
learning potential of rebellion. In this research project, the author uses a biographical
perspective (Urbaniak-Zając, 2011). Within it, the biography is understood in a processual way
and study the processes of constructing the identity of social actors. The biographical method
focuses on the subjective level of experience in the socio-cultural context (Alheit, 2009; Merrill,
2001). The empirical material is analyzed in a phenomenographic way (by comparing different
and common threads in the analyzed biographies).
In the narrations of the “rebellious” people several threads about their childhood and
participation in protests along with their parents were discovered. The phenomenon of joint
action of families in public space is important from the point of view of education and society,
especially in the context of increasing social discontent and the crisis of liberal democracy
(Castells, 2017). The analyzed narrations show that protesting parents could potentially have
had a large impact on the involvement of the respondents in social and political affairs, which
can be seen as an important citizen issue.
The research subject is situated here in the andragogical research stream. Many of its elements
are also the research subjects in the field of social pedagogy and sociology. We are talking here
about the relationships between (wo)man and her/his social environments and significant
pedagogical places (Mendel, 2017) as well as the issue of collective actions.
References:
1. Alheit, P. (2009). Biographical learning – within the new lifelong learning discourse. In
K. Illeris (Ed.), Contemporary Theories of Learning, London and New York: Routledge.
2. Castells, M. (2017). Ruptura. La crisis de la democracia liberal, Alianza Editorial,
Madrid.
3. Mendel, M. (2017). Pedagogika miejsca wspólnego. Miasto i szkoła [Pedagogy of
Common Places: The city and the school], Gdańsk: Katedra.
4. Merrill, B. (2001). Learning Careers: Conceptualising Adult Learning Experiences
Through Biographies, ESREA Biography and Life History Network Conference,
Roskilde, Denmark.
5. Szczygieł, P. (2018). Socjalizacja do buntu i uczenie się w świetle narracji osób
dorosłych uczestniczących w manifestacjach [Socialization to rebellion and learning in
the light of narrations of people participating in manifestations], TeraźniejszośćCzłowiek-Edukacja, nr 3(83).
6. Urbaniak-Zając, D. (2011). Biograficzna perspektywa badawcza [Biographical research
perspective]. In E. Dubas, W. Świtalski (Eds.), Uczenie się z (własnej) biografii, Łódź:
Wyd. UŁ.
Luminita Todea
Univertsitatea Tehnica Cluj-Napoca
Eszter Salamon
Luca László
Parents International
Successful mentoring model approaches to support vulnerable parents for better learning
outcomes of children
Keywords: disadvantages, mentoring, inclusion, Roma
Eszter Salamon will be preseting.
Disadvantaged parents tend to be less involved in their children’s schooling for multiple social
and economic reasons. Family background (both socio-economic status and parents’ own level
of education) have influence on children’s performance and well-being at school. Parenting
programmes have a proven positive effect on both parents and their children. Mentoring
programmes are especially positive given the approach that treats mentees as equal partners,
resulting in a partnership approach also in home-school relationship. Our holistic approach is
interconnecting family, school and community related factors in order to increase children’s
well-being and bonding to school based on the assumption that children who have closer
relationships with their parents and being provided by emotional support show better academic
performance, have less detentions and decreased truancy, as well as higher level of social
competence.
Produced to be the research base for the parent mentoring programme Parent’r’us this paper
summarizes approaches to and successful examples of parental engagement / involvement of
vulnerable parents in the learning of their children, gives an overview of successful
methodologies and examples of mentoring targeting vulnerable people. To this end literature
resources and inspiring practices have been collected and then analysed, with the following
aims:
− Draw a clear picture of the state-of-art research around parental engagement and
involvement to offer a theoretical basis for the work of the project consortium. The
related literature review has been done with those parents in focus who traditionally are
more difficult to reach for the school and/or considered less successful in supporting
their children’s learning.
− To assess and describe mentoring models that have proven to be successful in other
contexts, to analyse them from the project’s point of view in order to provide a
methodological basis for the work of the Consortium.
− Elaborate on certain cases of successful parental engagement / involvement, i.e. mainly
EU, nationally or locally funded projects. The rationale behind the intensive search of
such cases was to identify practices that combine parental engagement practices with
mentoring in order to work towards social inclusion and provision of equitable
opportunities to education.
Methodically authors worked on the basis of desk research, a combination of research literature
review and an analysis of inspiring practices with a proven positive track record. In the first
two section the authors make a desk research report of parental engagement and mentoring, and
in the last part they have made an attempt to summarise advantages, challenges and elements
that need attention of implementing a mentoring model for parental engagement, especially in
the learning of individual children.
References:
1. Bhopal, K. (2004). Gypsy Travellers and Education: Changing Needs and Changing
Perceptions. British Journal of Education Studies, 52 (1), 47-64.
2. Bhopal, K., & Myers, M. (2009). Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils in schools in the
UK: inclusion and 'good practice'. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 13 (3),
299-314.
3. Bhopal, K., Gundara, J., Jones, C., & Owen, C. (2000). Working Towards Inclusive
Education: Aspects of Good Practice. London: Crown Copyright.
4. Campbell, C. (2011) How to involve hard-to-reach parents: encouraging meaningful
parental involvement with schools National College for School Leadership: London
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/340369
/how-to-involve-hard-to-reach-parents-full-report.pdf, last checked on the 09.02.2018
5. Chapman, T., Bhopal, K. (2013) Countering common-sense understandings of ‘good
parenting:’ women of color advocating for their children, Race Ethnicity and Education,
16:4, 562-586.
6. Crozier, G., & Davies, J. (2007). Hard to reach parents or hard to reach schools? A
discussion of home-school relations, with particular reference to Bangladeshi and
Pakistani parents. British Education Research Journal , 33 (3), 295-313.
7. Cummins, J. (2003). Challenging the construction of difference as deficit: Where are
identity, intellect, imagination, and power in the new regime of truth. Pedagogies of
difference: Rethinking education for social change, 41-60.
8. Darder, A. 2006. „Foreword“. In: Olivos, E.M. (Hrsg.): The Power of Parents. A Critical
Perspective of Bicultural Parent Involvement in Public Schools. New York: Peter Lang
Publishing. (Foreword).
9. Department for Children, Schools and Families. (2009). Moving Forward Together:
Raising Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Achievement (Booklet 4). London: Crown
Copyright.
10. Desforges, C. and A. Abouchaar (2003). The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parental
Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievement and Adjustment: A Literature
Review, Department of Education and Skills.
11. Epstein, J. 1992. “School and Family Partnerships.” In Encyclopedia of Educational
Research, edited by M. Alkin. New York: MacMillan.
12. Epstein, J. 2009. School, family and community partnerships: Your handbook for
Action. Kalifornien: Corwin Press.
13. Epstein, J. L., Sanders, M. G., Sheldon, S., Simon, B. S. Salinas, K.C., et al. (2009).
School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action (3rd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
14. Field, S., M. Kuczera and B. Pont (2007), No More Failures: Ten Steps to Equity in
Education, OECD, Paris.
15. Goodall J. (2017) Learning-centred parental engagement: Freire reimagined,
Educational Review
16. Goodall, J. (2017) Narrowing the achievement gap: Parental engagement with
children’s learning, Routledge, London and New York
17. Goodall, J. S., (2016) Technology and school-home communication in International
Journal of Pedagogies and Learning Vol 11 no 2 118-131
18. Goodall, J., Montgomery, C. (2014) Parental involvement to parental engagement: a
continuum, Educational Review, 66:4, 399-410.
19. Goodall, J., Vorhaus, J. (2011) Review of best practice in parental engagement:
Practitioners summary. London: DfE
20. Goodall, J., Weston, K. (2018) 100 Ideas for primary teachers: Engaging parents.
London, Bloomsbury Education
21. Harris, A. & Goodall, J. 2007. Engaging Parents in Raising Achievement. Do Parents
Know
They
Matter?
University
of
Warwick.
Online
abrufbar
auf:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RW004.pdf
22. Henderson, A. 1987. The evidence continues to grow: Parent involvement improves
student achievement. Columbia: National Committee for Citizens in Education.
23. Hoover-Dempsey & Whitaker 2010. The parent involvement process: Implications for
literacy. In: Dunsmore, K. & Fisher, D. (Hrsg.): Bringing literacy home. Newark:
International Reading Association. S. 53-82.
24. Jasis P.M. & Ordoñez-Jasis, R. 2012. Latino Parent Involvement: Examining
Commitment and Empowerment in Schools. In: Urban Education, 47:65, S. 65- 89.
25. Jeynes, W. 2003. A Meta-Analysis. The Effects of Parental Involvement on Minority
Children’s Academic Achievement. In: Education and Urban Society, 35, S. 202-218.
Online abrufbar auf: http://www.sagepub.com/vaughnstudy/articles/dair/Jeynes.pdf
26. Jeynes, W.H. (2005), “A Meta-Analysis of the Relation of Parental Involvement to
Urban Elementary School Student Academic Achievement”, Urban Education, Vol. 40,
No. 3, pp. 237-269.
27. Jeynes, W.H. (2007), “The Relationship Between Parental Involvement and Urban
Secondary School Student Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis”, Urban
Education, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 82-110.
28. L. Ritok, N. (2013) 356. Amikor a kozosseg is akarja, A nyomor szele
https://nyomorszeleblog.hvg.hu/2013/03/18/356-amikor-a-kozosseg-is-akarja/
29. L. Ritok, N. (2014) 411. Identitas, gyerekszemmel. A nyomor szele
https://nyomorszeleblog.hvg.hu/2014/03/30/411-identitas-gyerekszemmel/
30. L.Ritok, N. (2017) 600. Az oktatas, vagy valami mas?, A nyomor szele
https://nyomorszeleblog.hvg.hu/2017/10/22/600-az-oktatas-vagy-valami-mas/
31. L.Ritok, N. (2017) 604. Aktak es gyerkek, A nyomor szele
https://nyomorszeleblog.hvg.hu/2017/11/18/604-aktak-es-gyerekek/
32. Matras, Y., Leggio, V., Jones, C., Sutac, M., Constantin, R., & Tanase, L. (2014). Roma
pupils at Bright Futures Education Trust (Gorton South, Manchester): Background,
preliminary observations, engagement strategy. Manchester: The University of
Manchester.
33. OECD. 2010b: Education at a Glance 2010.
34. Ofsted. (2014). Overcoming barriers: ensuring that Roma children are fully engaged
and achieving in education. London: Ofsted.
35. Pena, D. C. (2000). Parent involvement: Influencing factors and implications. The
Journal of Educational Research, 94(1), 42-54.
36. Penfold, M. (2015). Improving education outcomes for pupils from the new Roma
communities. Leicester: British Council.
37. Price-Mitcell, M. (2015.) Tomorrow's Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of
Citizenship for a New Generation, Eagle Harbour Publishing
38. Salamon, E. (2017) European Schoolnet Teacher Academy
39. Scullion, L., & Brown, P. (2013). 'What's working?': Promoting the inclusion of Roma
in and through education. Salford: University of Salford.
Chrysoula Tsirmpa
Nektarios Stellakis
Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education,
University of Patras, Greece
Family literacy practices and investigation of factors, that are relevant and should be
taken into account in the cooperation of educators and parents
Keywords: Literacy practices, parents beliefs, home environment, early childhood education,
home-school collaboration.
Chrysoula Tsirmpa will be presenting.
Families play a major role in building a sustainable basis for lifelong literacy skills of children
as they acquire in the family context foundational knowledge about written language even
before attending any formal education. However, parents haven’t the same beliefs about
literacy, what means to be literate and how one can foster literacy and many researchers have
identified a gap between home and school literacy practices. In recent years, the importance of
parents' beliefs in literacy of their children has increasingly been recognized, as they seem to
determine the literacy practices that follow. The purpose of this study is to investigate family
literacy practices and beliefs about literacy among parents of children of preschool age and
explore the factors, that are relevant and facilitating the transition to school literacy. In order to
investigate this topic, we used a mixed-method approach combining quantitative and qualitative
data. In the survey participated 168 parents of preschool children attending the 13 public
kindergartens in the city of Pyrgos, in Greece, during the school year 2017-2018. Data collected
from parents through two questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The first findings
indicate that we could categorize parents in two groups, according to their beliefs about literacy:
Facilitative and Conventional. Facilitative parents have a more active role in children’s
education and are engaged in more and different literacy practices than Conventional parents.
A solution to bridge the gap between home and school is to think about parents’ beliefs about
literacy and the factors that are relevant, their needs, the different characteristics of homeenvironment and to try to tailor educative programs for parents based on those notions. In
Greece, there is no wide-scale research about this topic, so the current research will cover the
relevant research gap and will help us to understand families’ cultural models that will serve as
the foundations for competent collaborations between early childhood educators and families.
References:
1. Baker, L. & Scher, D. (2010). Beginning readers’ motivation for reading in relation to
parental belief and home reading experience. Reading Psychology. Retrieved from
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713775283
2. Clay, M. (1966). Emergent Reading Behavior. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. New
Zealand: University of Auckland.
3. Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with Words: Language, life and work in communities and
classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
4. Taylor, D. (1983). Family literacy; Young children learning to read and write, in Larson,
J. & Marsch, J., The Sage Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy (2nded.). London:
Sage.
5. Teale, W. H. (1986). Home background and young children’s literacy learning. In W.H.
Teale &Sulzby (Eds.), Emergent literacy: Writing and reading, 173-206). Norwood,
NJ: Ablex.
6. Teale, W. H., & Sulzby, E. (1986). Emergent Literacy as a perspective for examining
how young children become writers and readers. In Wasic, B. H., Handbook of Family
Literacy (2nded.). New York: Routledge
7. Weigel, D., Martin, S., & Bennett, K. (2006). Mothers' literacy beliefs: Connections
with the Home Literacy Environment and Pre-School Children's Literacy Development.
Journal
of
Early
Childhood
Literacy.
Retrieved
from
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468798406066444
8. Whitehurst, G. J., &Lonigan, C. J. (1998). Child development and emergent literacy.
Child development, 69, 848-872.
Danuta Uryga
Department of Education Policy
Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, Poland
Polish parental grass-root movement as a struggle for recognition of LGBT+ youth and
children
Keywords : parental grass-root movement, parental NGO, parents of LGBT+ persons
The subject of the paper is a new area of parental activity in Poland, undertaken by the parents
of LGBT+ children, adolescents and young adults in the form of creating parental NGOs and
self-help groups. This new field of parental activity has existed in Poland for only a decade.
The broad goal of these initiatives is the improvement of the situation of LGBT+ persons in
Poland, which is unfavorable due to discriminatory practices (Abramowicz 2007,
Makuchowska & Pawlęga 2012, Godzisz & Knut 2018). The paper is based on research carried
out by the author in 2018 and 2019 in the parents’ newly founded association.
The theoretical frame of the study is the category of recognition (Honneth 2012) – the
psychosocial basis for development of human identity and fulfillment. Being denied recognition
harms individuals morally, leading to contestation of existing social relations, and, as a result,
emancipatory social change. The activity of Polish parents of LGBT+ persons may be seen as
a struggle for recognition of their children (and themselves as parents). The research questions
concerned both the detailed image of parental activities and the discourses (ideas, ideologies)
in which these activities gain their justification.
The study was designed in accordance with the perspectives of social constructionism (Berger
& Luckman, 2010) and critical discourse analysis (Duszak & Faircolugh 2008). The method
was case study, including the techniques: individual in-depth reviews, focus-group reviews,
document analysis.
The results of the research show that parental activity takes place in the areas indicated by
Honneth as key for human wellbeing: the families, the legal regulations and institutions, and
the sphere of social values. There are three main ways of justifying parental activity: the
discourse of concern, of claim and of community. There are also some features of the parental
activities that justify calling them a parental social grass-root movement (Kuczyński 1991) that
can make society more inclusive.
References:
1. Abramowicz M. (2007). Sytuacja społeczna osób biseksualnych i homoseksualnych
w Polsce. Raport za lata 2005 i 2006. Warszawa: Kampania Przeciw Homofobii.
2. Berger, P. L. and T. Luckmann (1966). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise
in the Sociology of Knowledge, Garden City. New York: Anchor Books.
3. Duszak A., Faircolugh N. (2008). Krytyczna analiza dyskursu: interdyscyplinarne
podejście do komunikacji społecznej. Kraków: Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców
Prac Naukowych Universitas.
4. Godzisz P., Knut P. (2018). LGBTI rights in Poland. Measures to combat discrimination
and violence on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.
Warszawa: Kampania Przeciw Homofobii, Lambda.
5. Honneth A. (1995). The Struggle for Recognition: The Moral Grammar of Social
Conflicts. Cambridge, Mass. : Polity Press.
6. Kuczyński P. (1991). Socjologia ruchów społecznych w Polsce. Kultura i
Społeczeństwo, 3, 18-26
7. Nowak-Dziemianowicz (2016). Walka o uznanie w narracjach: jednostka i wspólnota
w procesie poszukiwania tożsamości. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Dolnośląskiej
Szkoły Wyższej.
8. Makuchowska M., Pawlęga M. (2012). Sytuacja społeczna osób LGBT. Raport za lata
2010 i 2011. Warszawa: Kampania Przeciw Homofobii, Lambda, Trans-Fuzja.
Cristina Valencia Mazzanti
Martha Allexsaht-Snider
University of Georgia, USA
Learning from Creating Spaces for Family Engagement with a Focus on Linguistic
Diversity
Keywords: Multilingualism, Family Engagement, Informal Education
In this presentation we will invite the audience to reflect on the role of language in creating
spaces for family engagement. For this purpose, we draw on data collected through two
implementations of a series of family workshops called Familias Aprendiendo. The workshops
were designed for Latino families who live in the United States, who have children in
elementary school, and whose dominant language is Spanish. The workshops have an overall
focus on mathematics and are intended to create opportunities to reinforce Spanish and
bilingualism as valuable learning resources. Each series of workshops are supposed to last 10
sessions, with each session implemented weekly. The workshops are implemented by
researchers and volunteers and are designed to last for a semester, alternating between family
sessions and sessions in which parents and children work separately. Data is collected through
note taking, field notes, photographs, audio-recording, video-recording, and unstructured parent
interviews; forms of data collection are alternated in each session based on the needs of the
participants.
It is in the context of these workshops that we consider the role that language plays in family
engagement; how it can become a resource to build community and to support families in
pursuing the goals that they have for their children’s education. We support our analysis and
understanding by drawing on our experience of the world as multilingual, and also considering
Translanguaging’s view of language, which Garcia and Wei (2014) explain as the “multiple
discursive practices in which bilinguals engage in order to make sense of their bilingual
worlds.” (p. 45). From these perspectives, we consider the following research question: (1) How
does a focus on linguistic diversity help us create more inclusive spaces for family engagement?
References:
1. Garcia, O., & Wei, Li. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and
education. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
René Veenstra
Gijs Huitsing
University of Groningen, Sociology, Netherlands
Annelies Kassenberg
Gabriëlla Dekker-Calado
Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Youth, Education and Society, Netherlands
Martijn Willemse
Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Cooperation with Parents in Education,
Netherlands
Combatting bullying: How can competing become cooperating and when do parents want
to be involved in the fight?
Keywords: bullying, parent- teacher cooperation, role perception, elementary school.
Gabriëlla Dekker-Calado will be presenting.
Numbers of anti-bullying programs are used in elementary schools: some of them scientifically
proven to reduce bullying (Huang et al., 2019). Even though there are some strong indications
that bullying in elementary schools is declining, the problem is still globally existent (Rigby &
Smith, 2011). Despite the fact that scholars agree on that the cooperation between parents and
teachers is of great importance in the combat against and the prevention of bullying
(Munniksma et al., 2014; Cross et al., 2012), the emphasis of these anti-bullying programs is
mostly placed on the actors who act within the school and relatively little attention is paid to
the role of parents.
Besides scholars, also teachers acknowledge the importance of parents in the fight against
bullying. From resent research we have learned that teachers find it difficult to cooperate with
parents of children that are involved in a bullying situation (Petri & Kassenberg, 2019). In our
systematic review we explore what is already known about how teachers and parents can
effectively cooperate in situations of bullying. Differences in expectations about what role a
teacher plays in school according to parents and teachers can complicate the cooperation in the
fight against bullying. (Hale et al. 2000). Also we looked into what role parents believe they
have in the combat against bullying: do they feel responsible for and are they willing to
contribute in the prevention of bullying or do they see themselves merely acting in a curative
approach: when a bullying situation is already existent? From the design of most anti-bullying
programs we have learned that the role of parents in the prevention of bullying is relatively
small.
Systematic searches were conducted in six electronic databases: PsycINFO, Education
Resources Information Center (ERIC), SocINDEX, Springerlink, Academic Search Premier
and web of science. Peer reviewed articles were selected based upon selection criteria and
presented in a flowchart.
Keywords: bullying, parent- teacher cooperation, role perception, elementary school.
References:
1. Cross, D., Waters, S., Pearce, N., Shaw, T., Hall, M., Erceg, E., Burns, S., Roberts, C.
& Hamilton, G. (2012). The Friendly Schools Friendly Families programme: Three year
bullying behaviour outcomes in primary school children. International Journal of
Educational Research 53, 394- 406.
2. Hale, R., Fox, C.L. & Murray, M. J. (2017). “As a Parent You Become a Tiger”: Parents
Talking about Bullying at School. Journal of Child and Family Studies, (26) 7, 2000–
2015. https://doi-org.nlhhg.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0710-z
3. Huang, Yuanhong & Espelage, Dorothy & Polanin, Joshua & Hong, Jun. (2019). A
Meta-analytic Review of School-Based Anti-bullying Programs with a Parent
Component.
International
Journal
of
Bullying
org.nlhhg.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s42380-018-0002-1
Prevention.
https://doi-
4. Munniksma, F., Huitsing, G., Oldenburg, B., Ploeg, R. van der & Veenstra, R. (2014).
Samenwerken tegen pesten. In R. Oostdam & P. de Vries (red.). Samen werken aan
leren en opvoeden. Basisboek over ouders en school (pp. 211-224). Bussum: Coutinho.
5. Petri, D. & Kassenberg, A. (2019). Teachers, parents, and children about cooperation in
bullying. Manuscript Submitted for Publication
6. Rigby, K. & Smith, P.K. (2011). Is school bullying really on the rise? Social Psychology
of Education. 14: 441-455. https://doi-org.nlhhg.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s11218-0119158-y
Adrijana Visnjic Jevtić
University of Zagreb, OMEP, Croatia
Ewa Lewandowska
Maria Grzegorzewska University, OMEP, Poland
Alicja R. Sadownik
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
Kindergarten Knowledge Centre for Systemic Research and Sustainable Futures
Conditions for parental involvement in early childhood education: Croatian, Norwegian,
and Polish ECE steering documents and teacher education curricula
Keywords: conditions for parental involvement, steering documents, ECEC, teacher education
Access to ECE settings is mentioned by the United Nations as one of the sustainable goals for
people, planet and prosperity (United Nations 2015). However, the quality of ECE services and
children’s wellbeing in them depends on parental involvement (Borgonovi & Mont, 2012). This
paper examines and compares the ECE steering documents and early years teacher education
(EYTE) programs of three European countries. The steering documents and teacher education
programs are seen by the authors as conditions for parental involvement, which means that they
are the first level to reflect upon and to improve. The research method used in our reading of
the steering documents and curricula was document analysis (Bowen 2009). The results of the
analysis are presented below.
Norwegian steering documents focus on parental involvement, but this is addressed only
peripherally in EYTE. Moreover, the steering documents focus on dialogue with parents in
relation to individual children. The EYTE programs, however, include literature that describes
rather collective forms of parental involvement where joint parental interest are promoted.
Polish steering documents designate parents as actors in ECE, and the available literature
describes various forms of parental partnerships with educational institutions. Nevertheless, the
content presented and discussed with students differs widely from university to university and
embraces practices that range from discussions on research and theoretical models to following
parenting blogs and social media groups.
Since 1956, Croatian legal regulations have stressed the importance of parental collaboration
with (pre)schools. The National Curriculum of ECE identifies partnerships with families as one
of the most important principles safeguarding children’s wellbeing in the education and care
system. While the EYTE curricula on this matter differs from university to university, more
emphasis is placed on the topics of parental involvement and partnership with parents.
Nevertheless, the parental perspective on such partnerships is still missing.
Our conclusions indicate that there is a need for greater consistency between policy documents
and EYTE curricula. We argue that the realizing this goal will happen through the dialogical
involvement of all the stakeholders, actors, and users related to the ECE sector.
References:
1. United Nations (2015).Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. New York: UN Publishing.
2. Borgonovi, F. and G. Montt (2012). “Parental Involvement in Selected PISA Countries
and Economies,”OECD Education Working Papers, No. 73, OECD Publishing,
Paris,https://doi.org/10.1787/5k990rk0jsjj-en.
3. Bowen, G.A. (2009). “Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method”,
Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 9, no. 2, 27-40. DOI 10.3316/QRJ0902027.
Tuula Vuorinen
Department of Education, Culture and Communication
Mälardalens University, Västerås, Sweden
“It´s pretty much about attitudes …”: parents view on building teams with preschool
practitioners
Keywords: parent, preschool, early childhood education, collaboration, relationship
The purpose of this study was to explore parents´ perspectives on, and experiences of, home
and preschool collaboration. The presentation aims are (1) to describe what parents consider
important when collaborating with preschool practitioners and (2) to describe how parents
perceive the process of building relationships with preschool practitioners. The research process
follow the procedures significant for constructivist grounded theory. Data consist of individual
interviews with 10 parents who have one or several children attending preschool in Sweden.
Results show how parents seek to shoulder their parental responsibilities from afar by `remote
parenting´. The concept `remote parenting´ is often understood as parents guiding or controlling
their youngsters from afar. In this case, the concept is however widened to include practitioners
since parents do not have the possibility to address their children directly. In some situations,
practitioners become the eyes and hands of the parents when the latter seek to indivisualize and
individualize preschool activities and routines. Parents stress the necessity to build trusting and
authentic relationships with practitioners based on continuity, transparency, knowledge,
inclusion and equality. A mutual understanding of each other’s roles and perspectives, and a
shared responsibility of the child´s well-being, facilitate the process of building strong
relationships between home and preschool. The relationship building process is hampered by a
lack of will, responsibility, continuity and openness. Parents seek for `personal professionals´
as they stress the need to get to know the practitioners, not only as professionals but also as
individuals. The result may, by visualizing parents view on home and preschool collaboration,
enhance teambuilding processes that will benefit children overall well-being, learning and
development.
Britt-Evy Westergard
Gerd Hilde Lunde
Oslo Metropolitan University
Kathy Kikis-Papadakis
Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas
Bianka Winterscheid
Internationaler Bund Südwest
Mikael Carlsen
Center for Specialpaedagogiske Boernetilbud
Vasilis Kalopisis
Social Enterprise Puzzle
Eszter Salamon
Parents International
Supporting parents of children with intellectual disabilities by online training for
inclusion
Key words: disabilities, inclusion, rights, parent training
Eszer Salamon will be presenting
Six organizations from five European countries (Greece, Norway, Germany, Denmark and
Belgium) has come together to produce an e-learning platform for parents of children with
intellectual disabilities. The e-platform was developed on the basis of a needs analysis research
and contains 6 training modules aiming at providing training, awareness raising and/or attitude
change, covering the topics of improving communication, stress management, transition to
adulthood, sexuality, ageing, and human rights. The platform is free to use and the trainings are
available in English, Greek, Norwegian, German, Danish and Portuguese (with French to be
added later). Parents from several European countries have been informed about it in group
meetings, supported to use it and invited to complete the module(s) of their interest.
During the implementation phase impact assessment has been done using questionnaires pretraining, immediately after the training modules and 3 month later. By the time of the ERNAPE
conference the research results will be available and analyses.
In this paper presentation the results of the needs analysis phase (focus groups and survey) as
well as the outcomes of the impact assessment will be presented. The aim of our research is to
show how such a training can help to improve general life quality of children with disabilities,
but especially how their level of inclusion increases due to their parents’ increased ability to
communicate with the educational institution and to treat them as competent partners to the
largest extent possible.
References:
1. Brookfield, S. (1986), Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning, Σαν Φρανσίσκο:
Jossey-Bass.
2. Hepburn Kathy Seitzinger (2004), Families as Primary Partners in their Child’s
Development and School Readiness, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore).
3. Jarvis P. (1988), Adult and Continuing Education, Theory and Practice, Routledge,
London.
4. Jarvis Ρ. (2004) Συνεχιζόμενη Εκπαίδευση και κατάρτιση: Θεωρία και πράξη του εκδ.
Μεταίχμιο, μετάφραση: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΑ ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗ
5. Knowles, M. (1984). Andragogy in Action.
6. McLaughlin, J., Monteith, M., Sneddon, H. (2001). A Long and Widing Road to
Employment?: Disabled Young People in Northern Ireland Making The Transition to
Adulthood. Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies
7. Rogers, A. (1999), Η εκπαίδευση ενηλίκων, Μετάφραση: Μαρία Κ. Παπαδοπούλου,
Μαρία Τόμπρου, Αθήνα.
Marta Wiatr
Department of Social Pedagogy
Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, Poland
The Ambiguous Meanings of Parental Engagement in the Reflexive Modernization Era:
Parental Educational Initiatives in Poland
Keywords: Parental engagement, parental initiatives, reflexive modernization, ideologies,
quasi-schools
This paper focuses on the exceptional contribution from a group of parents who decide to
abandon public education and create for their children new, better educational environments called quasi-schools (Uryga & Wiatr, 2015). The first four quasi-schools were created in Poland
in 2013. Today, dozens of them are in operation.
The parents’ determination, obstinacy, and readiness to assume risk and responsibility for a
child’s education seem to fit in the ideals of strength, resistance, participation and emancipation.
After closer examination, the parents' actions seem to reveal something more, which calls for
more detailed examination.
I used research started in 2014, aimed to explore the essence and basis of the phenomenon
(extraordinary parental involvement in child education) and to grasp its meaning from different
perspectives (empowerment, engagement, participation on the one hand, and psychologization,
discipline, depowerment of social realm, and exclusion on the other hand).
The research questions concerned the parents' actions themselves (their repertoire, forms and
scope), the meanings given to these actions by parents and wider discourses/ideologies in which
parental activities find their justification.
The research questions set an exploration within the theoretical framework of social
constructivism (Berger & Luckmann 1966) and poststructuralism (Foucault); some attributes
of parental actions (reflexivity, risk taking and responsibility) introduced the concept of
reflexive modernization (Beck, Giddens, & Lash, 1994) to the theoretical framework.
This qualitative, exploratory study employed the case study method which applied strategies of
constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz 2006) and discourse analysis embedded in sociology
of knowledge (Keller 2005). Interviews with 11 parents involved in quasi-schools (mothers and
fathers of preschool and schoolchildren) were conducted and analyzed.
The analysis allows 1) to identify parental discursive and non-discursive practices, the
mechanisms and processes active in constructing the parents’ role and their engagement in
education as well as 2) to reconstruct the multifaceted meanings of parental involvement in late
modernity.
References:
1. Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in
the sociology of knowledge. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday.
2. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory. A Practical Guide Through
Qualitative Analysis. Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
3. Foucault, M. (1972). The Archeology of Knowledge and the Discourse on Language.
The
Archeology
of
Knowledge
and
the
Discourse
on
Language.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470776407.ch20
4. Keller, R. (2005). Analysing discourse. An approach from the sociology of knowledge.
Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung, 6(3), 223–242. https://doi.org/ISSN 1438-5627
5. Beck, U., Giddens, A., & Lash, S. (1994). Reflexive modernization: Politics, tradition
and aesthetics in the modern social order. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.
6. Uryga, D., & Wiatr, M. (2015). Quasi-szkoły – nowe przedsięwzięcia rodzicielskie na
obrzeżu systemu oświaty Quasi-schools – new parental ventures on the fringes of Polish
education system. Pedagogika społeczna, 57(3), 217–232.
Suzanne Wilson
University of Central Lancashire Westlakes Campus
Samuel Lindow Building, United Kingdom
‘Hard to Reach’ Parents but not Hard to Research: A Critical Reflection of Gatekeeper
Positionality in a Community Based Methodology
Keywords: hard-to-reach, parental engagement, qualitative methods, social inclusion,
community
General Description: Conducting research with under-represented, overlooked and service
resistant groups poses challenges but can lead to valuable discoveries that inform the
development of policy or practice. In this presentation, a reflective account of a communitybased methodology will be provided, which targeted families experiencing poverty who did not
engage with the school system. The research context in which this methodology took place
sought to provide a phenomenological understanding of how these parents perceived their role
in their child’s education, and what challenges they felt they faced, both at home and in school.
This community-based methodology proved effective in recruiting and obtaining data from five
focus groups (n=27) and a series of in-depth interviews (n=50).
Methodology: The research to which this reflective account refers to used a recruitment strategy
embedded in community centres, using informal gatekeepers (Emmel, et al., 2007) as the
primary source for recruitment, followed by snowball sampling. All data collection took place
in community centres, at times chosen by the parents. The reflective account refers to the
experience of parents accessing the research, rather than accessing the education system, which
was the overarching theme of the research project. These reflections are supported by accounts
from parents that emerged during the data collection to help illustrate the lived experience of
parents in accessing such gatekeepers.
Research Findings and Conclusions: The perceived positionality of the gatekeeper is discussed,
explained using Tajfel and Turner's social identity theory (1979), with particular focus on ingroup, out-group identity perceptions. Reaching parents through informal gatekeepers (such as
community centres) provided an environment where parents felt more comfortable accessing
this research opportunity, as parents self-categorised as belonging to the same social group.
Attempts to engage with parents through more formal settings, such as schools, were
unsuccessful, Adopting a methodology primarily used in social work, a community engagement
framework for reaching parents is presented, which attempted to overcome the organisational
barriers of communication and setting, as described by Boag-Munroe and Evangelou (2012).
This distinctive trans-disciplinary approach to recruiting and listening to parents who may not
traditionally engage with schools serves to provide guidance to other researchers who may wish
to understand the educational experiences of parents who are often excluded from traditional
research methods, such as surveys or school based research. Teachers can also benefit from the
insights gained through informing their engagement practices with parents and families who
they have had little contact with previously.
References:
1. Boag-Munroe, G., & Evangelou, M. (2012). From hard to reach to how to reach: A
systematic review of the literature on hard-to-reach families. Research Papers in
Education, 27(2), 209-239.
2. Emmel, N., Hughes, K., Greenhalgh, J., & Sales, A. (2007). Accessing socially
excluded people—Trust and the gatekeeper in the researcher-participant relationship.
Sociological Research Online, 12(2), 1-13.
3. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G.
Austin, & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-37).
Maria A. Wolf
University of Innsbruck, Austria
Institute of Educational Sciences
Gendered Notions of „Good“ Parents. Good Parent discourses in educational journals.
Keywords: Gendered Parenthood, „good“ parent discourses, discours analysis, science
research.
In our past and present we find diverse models of „good“ parents. They particularly correlate
with various socio-structural and socio-cultural contexts and are transformed through changing
times. They are negotiated by different social forces such as economy, religion, policy and
science and become dominant references in social fields and time periods under which parents
as representatives of parenthood are noticed and rated. These ideas become specifically
apparent for parents in their spaces of interaction, e.g in the field of education, making them
realise what it means to be adressed in certain ways. In my paper I will show some research
findings of a discourse analysis of educational journals in Austria during the course of the
twentieth century until today. Thereby I focus on the way how parenthood and parenting are
negotiated in this discourse of education professionals, reconstruct the percistency and
mutability of the construction of gender and discuss the meaning and purpose of using gender
to regulate the figures of „good“ parents as well as the question who are the ones who enjoy the
advantages of this genderd figures by drawing on Norbert Elias's „civilizing of parents“,
Jacques Donzelot's „Policing of Families“ and Pierre Bourdieu's concept of the „family as a
realized category“.
References:
1. Bourdieu Pierre (1996) On the Family as a Realized Category. Theory, Culture &
Society 13(3): 19-26
2. Elias, Norbert (1998) ‘The civilizing of parents’, in J. Goudsblom and S. Mennell (eds.),
The Norbert Elias Reader, Oxford: Blackwell. 189-212
3. Donzelot, Jacques (1980) The Policing of Families, London: Hutchinson.
Kartika Yulianti
Eddie Denessen
Mienke Droop
Gert-Jan Veerman
Radboud University, Netherlands
The effects of transformational leadership and teacher invitations on parental
involvement: A study in elementary schools in Java, Indonesia
Keywords: Parental involvement; teacher invitation; transformational leadership; elementary
schools; Indonesia
Kartika Yulianti will be presenting.
School leaders and teachers are two important components of the school organization that have
the responsibility to initiate the school policy to promote parental involvement. In this study,
we aimed to study these direct and indirect effects of transformational leadership for parental
involvement on parental involvement practices. We attempted to answer two research
questions:
(1) Does Transformational Leadership for Parental Involvement (TLPI) promote parental
involvement in primary schools?
(2) If so, to what extent is the effect of transformational school leadership indirect, via
teachers’ invitations for parental involvement (TIPI)?
Three theoretical frameworks guided this study. First, Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s model
of parental involvement with the emphasis on specific invitations to involvement from teachers
and schools. Second, Epstein’s six types of parental involvement framework. Third, the
transformational leadership model in educational settings developed by Leithwood and
colleagues. From these frameworks a survey with three measures was developed. First, a
parental involvement questionnaire that was adapted from Epstein’s six types of parental
involvement framework. Second, the Transformational Leadership for Parental Involvement
Questionnaire (TLPI-q) that we developed mainly based on the transformational leadership
model developed by Leithwood and his associates. Third, the Teacher Invitations for Parental
Involvement Questionnaire (TIPI-q) that was inspired by Epstein’s six types of parental
involvement framework. The survey was administered to 90 teachers of 18 primary schools
spread across the Island of Java, Indonesia. We found that transformational leadership did not
have significant direct effects on parental involvement. We did find some significant effects of
teacher invitations on parental involvement which could partly be explained by
transformational leadership practices in their school. We conclude that transformational
leadership for parental involvement is important for schools and teachers to build school-family
partnerships and that teachers profit from these leadership practices to promote parental
involvement.
References:
1. Epstein, J.L. (2010). School/family/community partnerships: Caring for the children we
share. The Phi Delta Kappan, 92(3), 81-96.
2. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., & Sandler, H. M. (1995). Parental involvement in children's
education: Why does it make a difference? Teachers College Record, 97(2), 310-331.
3. Sun, J., & Leithwood, K. (2012). Transformational school leadership effects on student
achievement. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 11(4), 418-451.
Alicja Zbierzchowska
Institute of Education, University of Gdańsk, Poland
Support for underage mothers in the school environment. The perspective of school staff
in Poland
Keywords: teenage motherhood; support students in school, school-family collaboration
Theoretical framework
Premature parenthood is an untimely and critical event in teenagers` lives.Usually
underage mothers experience a conflict in fulfilling the existing roles of being a student and a
teen girl with the new role of mother. This experiences can have negative psychological, social
and educational consequences for the young mother and her children. That is why the issue of
support received by this group of parents is important (Bidzan 2007, Erdmans, Black 2015,
Skowrońska-Zbierzchowska 2010, Hoffman, Maymard 2008).
After the family, the school is the first environment in which a pregnant teenager can expect
support from students and teachers.The situation of underage mothers in the school
environment, both before and after the birth of a child, is diverse. Experiences of obtaining
support from teachers and students dominate, but discriminatory practices are also described.
Polish research to date on this subject is based on the narratives of teenage mothers or fathers
(Skowrońska-Pućko 2016, Skowrońska-Zbierzchowska 2010). However, there is a lack of
research showing this problem from the point of view of school staff.
Research questions – objectives
In 2018 I conducted a pilot study, the aim of which was to learn what experience in providing
support to schoolgirls - teenage mothers school employees have.
The paper puts forward such research questions: What kind of support for underage
mothersdoes the school offer? What is the cooperation between the school and parents
(guardians) of underage mothers? Has the school developed apermanent policy (principles of
procedure) of providing support for pregnant students? What is the attitude of teachers and
other students towards their underage mothers? What are school staff ’reflections of the
effectives of support provided to teenage mothers?
Methodology
Appropriate researches are conducted from January 2019 using the following method: expert
interview, semi-structured. The research was carried out with one or two people from the school
staff: a school pedagogue/psychologist or teacher. The research will cover 15 schools (primary
or secondary) from the area of 3 cities in the northern part of Poland where the birth rate among
teenagers is high.
Findings
Preliminary results suggest that the schoolgirlsduring pregnancy and after childbirth receive
emotional support from teachers. Pupils, while continuing their education usually take
advantage of an individual course or attend lessons traditionally.
It is expected that the conclusions received will show good practice in providing support in the
school environment by teachers. They will indicate to what extend and in what way cooperation
with parents of teenage mothers is undertaken? What are the shortages in this respect? What is
important in creating a network of support for teenage mothers in the local environment?
References:
1. Bidzan M. (2007) , Nastoletnie matki. Psychologiczne aspekty ciąży, porodu i połogu,
IMPULS, Kraków.
2. Erdmans M. P., Black T., (2015), On becoming a teen mom, Life before pregnancy,
University of California Press, Oakland California.
3. Hoffman S.D., Maynard R. A., (2008), Kids having kids. Economic costs and social
consequences of teen pregnancy, Urban Institute Press.
4. Skowrońska-Pućko (2016), Przedwczesne macierzyństwo. Perspektywa biograficzna,
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Adama Mickiewicza.
5. Skowrońska-Zbierzchowska (2010), Doświadczenia małoletnich rodziców. Aspekty
socjopedagogiczne, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, Gdańsk.